Let's say I want to create a composite image of a person standing in front of the London Bridge and I own (shot) the isolated "person" image and now need to get a photo of the bridge. No, I cannot afford to fly to London and take the photo myself.

And suppose I find the perfect London Bridge photo on Flickr (or any source) and contact the photographer so I can buy the copyright to the photo, how do I convey to contributor sites like iStock that I own the copyright to the photo -- even though I did not take it -- but only paid for it and now have a signed document stating that I am now the copyright owner provided by the original shooter.

So the short question is; how do you composite image contributors source and acquire legal rights to images that you did not take? How do you convey your copyright ownership when submitting your work?

Thanks for your replies

Thanks Sean.

Here is a rejection statement from Getty:

The design elements in this file are likely subject to copyright protection for the original designer. Because the design is the predominant aspect of the file, the file is likely to infringe on the copyright of the designer. If you are the owner of the rights to the original work (i.e. the fabric design), or have other specific, verifiable reasons that suggest our initial assessment is inaccurate (such as if the copyright has expired in the original work) please resubmit and supply supporting documentation/releases.

I am unsure of what supporting documents they want.

So the short question is; how do you composite image contributors source and acquire legal rights to images that you did not take? How do you convey your copyright ownership when submitting your work?

Doesn't really answer your question but the safest option would just be to go to London Bridge (assuming you live in London) and take the pic yourself.

but only paid for it and now have a signed document stating that I am now the copyright owner provided by the original shooter.

Here is a rejection statement from Getty:

Quote

The design elements in this file are likely subject to copyright protection for the original designer. Because the design is the predominant aspect of the file, the file is likely to infringe on the copyright of the designer. If you are the owner of the rights to the original work (i.e. the fabric design), or have other specific, verifiable reasons that suggest our initial assessment is inaccurate (such as if the copyright has expired in the original work) please resubmit and supply supporting documentation/releases.

I am unsure of what supporting documents they want.

Um, how about the signed document stating that you are now the copyright owner provided by the original shooter as you said in the OP?  Why is this confusing?  You said in your OP that you had the document they are asking for - just send them that.

You got a detailed and official rejection reason for something hypothetical... that you haven't actually submitted? Strange. But still.... the way everyone does it is that they upload it just as they would if they had created 100% of the image. Then, if anything comes of it, they then submit supporting evidence to prove that they have full ownership of the file.

I know that in vector business copyrights are sold for $10-20 each. That's how those ginormous stock portfolios are created. It's a ripoff but it works well in poorer countries. Illustrators are lining up for the "deal of the century". I guess that can be done with photos too.

Does anybody read? He needs the London Bridge and doesn't live in LONDON! Read before you post. Photographers can't be this illiterate!!

Here, I've been redoing my forms so I had the book here by my desk. You'll need to modify this to fit your needs.

License of Rights

Agreement as of the _____ day of ___________, 20_____, between _____________________________________________,
located at ___________________________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the �Client�) and _____________________________________, located at _____________________________________________________ (hereinafter referred to as the �Designer�) with respect to the licensing of certain rights in the Designer�s writing
(hereinafter referred to as the �Work�).

1. Description of Work. The Client wishes to license certain rights in the Work which the Designer has created and which is described as follows:

Title_______________________________________________________________________________________
Subject matter_______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
Other materials to be provided__________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
Form in which work shall be delivered   [ ] computer file (specify format _____________________________)
[ ]other, specified as _______________________________________

2. Delivery Date. The Designer agrees to deliver the Work within _________ days after the signing of this Agreement.

3. Grant of Rights.  Upon receipt of full payment, Designer grants to the Client the following rights in the Work:

For use as ______________________________________________________ in the ______________________ language

For the product or publication named___________________________________________________________________

In the following territory_____________________________________________________________________________

For the following time period_________________________________________________________________________

With respect to the usage shown above, the Client shall have nonexclusive rights unless specified to the contrary here ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Other limitations __________________________________________________________________________________

If the Work is for use as a contribution to a magazine, the grant of rights shall be for one time North American serial rights only unless specified to the contrary above.

If the Client does not complete its usage under this Paragraph 3 by the following date__________________________ or if payments to be made hereunder fall to less than $____ every ____ months, all rights granted shall without further notice revert to the Designer without prejudice to the Designer�s right to retain sums previously paid and collect additional sums due.

4. Reservation of Rights. All rights not expressly granted hereunder are reserved to the Designer, including but not limited to all rights in preliminary materials and all electronic rights. For purposes of this agreement, electronic rights are defined as rights in the digitized form of works that can be encoded, stored, and retrieved from such media as computer disks, CD-ROM, computer databases, and network servers.

5. Fee. Client agrees to pay the following for the usage rights granted: [ ] $______________
[ ] an advance of $________ to be recouped against royalties to be computed as follows_____________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

6. Additional Usage. If Client wishes to make any additional uses of the Work, Client agrees to seek permission from the Designer and make such payments as are agreed to between the parties at that time.

7. Alteration. Client shall not make or permit any alterations, whether by adding or removing material from the Work, without the permission of the Designer. Alterations shall be deemed to include the addition of any illustrations, photographs, sound, text, or computerized effects, unless specified to the contrary here___________________________

8. Payment. Client agrees to pay the Designer within thirty days of the date of Designer�s billing, which shall be dated as of the date of delivery of the Work. Overdue payments shall be subject to interest charges of _____ percent monthly.

9. Statements of Account. The payments due pursuant to Paragraph 8 shall be made by Client to Designer whose receipt of same shall be a full and valid discharge of the Clients� obligations hereunder only if accompanied by the following information: (a) amount remitted; (b) check or wire transfer number and date, as well as the bank and account number to which funds were deposited by wire transfer; (c) Client�s name as payer; (d) title of the work for which payment is being made; (e) designer�s name; (f) the identifying number, if any, for the work, or the ISBN, if any; (g) the period which the payment covers; (h) the reason for the payment, the payment�s currency, and the details of any withholdings from the payment (such as for taxes, commissions, or bank charges).

10. Copyright Notice. Copyright notice in the name of the Designer [ ] shall [ ] shall not accompany the Work when it is reproduced.

11. Authorship Credit. Authorship credit in the name of the Designer [ ] shall [ ] shall not accompany the Work when it is reproduced. If the work is used as a contribution to a magazine or for a book, authorship credit shall be given unless specified to the contrary in the preceding sentence.

12. Releases. The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Designer against any and all claims, costs, and expenses, including attorney�s fees, due to uses for which no release was requested, uses which exceed the uses allowed pursuant to a release, or uses based on alterations not allowed pursuant to Paragraph 7.

13. Arbitration. All disputes arising under this Agreement shall be submitted to binding arbitration before ____________________________________ in the following location _________________________________����_________ and settled in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Judgment upon the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Disputes in which the amount at issue is less than $____________ shall not be subject to this arbitration provision.

14. Miscellany. This Agreement shall be binding upon the parties hereto, their heirs, successors, assigns, and personal representatives. This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding between the parties. Its terms can be modified only by an instrument in writing signed by both parties, except that the Client may authorize expenses or revisions orally. A waiver of a breach of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall not be construed as a continuing waiver of other breaches of the same or other provisions hereof. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of ___________________.

In Witness Whereof, the parties hereto have signed this Agreement as of the date first set forth above.



Designer______________________________________      Client____________________________________                                             
                            Company Name

                                   
                                                 By:_______________________________________                                         
                                 Authorized Signatory, Title