How to Charge for Photo Rights

Mar 30

Mar 30 How to Charge for Photo Rights

Ok so I feel like this is NOT discussed in the industry and there is definitely not a standard (yet) when it comes to charging for photos. The influencer industry is still new in so many ways and everyone sets their rates differently. Here are some things to keep in mind:

How much do you want to charge? If you think you deserve a certain price, CHARGE IT. Ultimately, you’re going to make what you ask for. If you’re not too sure, ask some of your friends in a similar following range to see what they would charge. Lastly, set a rate you’re comfortable with and see if the brand accepts. If they do, great! Maybe next time ask for a little more. If they negotiate, you’re probably in the right range. If they say no, you might be asking a little high (or their budget is low) and you can ask what they had in mind for budget.

What to consider:

License Period
Print Media
Digital Media
Territory
Base Usage Rate (BUR)

This is all commonly used by photographers, but it’s a great start for content creators to use as well in my opinion. So let’s break it down:

License Period

How long does the brand want to use for your content for? In fashion, brands typically get new product quite frequently so a 6mo period is the most common, but you could also do a year. Personally, I wouldn’t do longer than a year and give the option to renew because you might significantly grow in a year and want to make sure you maintain control over your image and likeness and make sure you’re getting paid what you deserve.

Print Media

Are brands going to be using this is a magazine? This is anything that is PRINTED. Although this isn’t the most popular method, you still want to make sure you ask brands.

Digital Media

In the influencer industry, this is currently the most popular form. This can include (but is not limited to) email marketing, newsletters, website, social media ads, social media posts, etc. Anything classified as digital lands here.

Territory

Does the brand want to use it specifically in a certain city? State? Country? For me personally, I don’t have too much experience navigating the difference so I typically include worldwide territory in my rates.

Base Usage Rate

This is not required, but is definitely an option! Do you want to charge a base usage rate? This is a flat fee on top of the photo rights you would charge. Again, this can be as much or little as you want.

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With all these things to consider, it’s important to know your value. Is this a brand you want to build a partnership with? Maybe it’s ok to accept a slightly lower rate. YOU SET YOUR OWN VALUE.

It is a bit frustrating the blogger / influencer industry isn’t quite up to speed on this standard, but it never hurts to ask a brand what they had in mind for budget and try to get them to give out the first number. You can also ask the brand what they’re looking for in the ad. Here’s an example:

“Hi [BRAND],

I’m so excited that you loved my content and want to use it for ads for your brand. What did you have in mind for the license period and territory, and where will you be using it (digital and/or print media?). Once I know what you’re looking for, I can send over a quote! Thanks.”

Other things you can consider once you determine all the factors:

Charging a monthly fee
+ For example: “I charge a $200/mo for 6mo digital media US territory per photo”
+ That way if the brand has a budget of timeline in mind they can go off of this
+ I’ve seen girls charge from $50 - $250 / per photo. Your rate is up to YOU and what you feel like you want to charge. These are just suggestions or a starting point!

I’m sure macro tier influencers with/without managers charge ALOT, and when it comes to ads “following” shouldn’t matter. It’s the quality of content that matters and that’s what the brand loved in the first place. It’s definitely all about confidence and believing in your own worth (which yes, I know is hard when you first start negotiating this).

Another thing to quickly note is WHITELISTING. A brand may ask for this and you might agree because you don’t know what it is. Whitelisting is when a brand promotes YOUR post from the back end (usually through facebook business manager). When the audience sees this ad, they are seeing it from your account even though the brand is putting the ad spend behind this.

A reason I’d recommend NOT doing this, is because the brand has full control and you may not even see the ad. If you do agree to this, make sure you inquire what the caption is going to be, what photo they are using, are they editing the photo, etc. Ask a lot of questions because it’s your brand being put out there and you want to maintain control of that.

Lastly, PERPETUAL RIGHTS. Perpetual rights means FOREVER. This is definitely a no. I’d highly recommend never agreeing to let a brand have perpetual rights. It’s very important to read each contract and search for the word ‘perpetual’. Use the beautiful command + F feature.

The reason you DO NOT want to agree to perpetual rights is because the brand will own this content and if you blow up in 5, 10 years and want to maintain control over your image, you’ve already given them this permission. The same thing as whitelisting, you want to maintain as much control as possible because it is your likeness they are using and profiting off of.

This recently happened to me. When a brand has perpetual rights in there, don’t be afraid to bring it up! Here is an example:

“Hi [Brand], Thanks so much for sending over the contract. I noticed the request for perpetual usage. I can offer 6mo - 1yr photo rights with the option to renew and I’d be happy to send over my rates for this. If there is no additional budget, can we kindly remove this from the contract? Looking forward to hearing back. Best, Allysa”

Anyway, these are just my thoughts and how I go about charging brands for ads. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or if you do something differently! I’d love to discuss. You can also dm me on IG @fashionablysurfed. I love chatting about these things and I want to get back into blogger education again.

Here’s my calculator source: https://www.the-aop.org/information/usage-calculator

Again: This is what professional photographers use, but it’s good place to just get an idea if you feel completely lost like I did.

In closing: KNOW YOUR WORTH. YOU SET YOUR RATE. YOUR WORK IS VALUABLE!