Photography Usage and License
When you hire a professional photographer you pay a License fee which grants you permission and the non-exclusive and non-transferable right to "Use" digital copies of original photographs for a specific period of time and for a specific Use - sort of like renting a hotel room or leasing an automobile - you do not own the room or automobile, you simply pay for the right to use it temporarily.
Photographers always own Copyright forever (100 years, automatically renewed) and we have the right to pursue payment for any unlicensed Usage of any kind. Damages could be severe (a percentage of your profits plus statutory damages) if our photographic work was used to actually sell a home or represent anything without our written permission and a License. Copyright holders always win these Lawsuits.
Ownership. The Photographer retains Ownership and Copyright of the Work and Rights to Use and sell the Work indefinitely, in all forms including and not limited to the Photographers own Use for any personal or commercial portfolio, advertising, marketing, display and for resale in both print and digital media.
* You may NOT "Give" or "Transfer" photographic work to another Realtor and or Realty Company if say, for example, you lose the listing. The images need to be Licensed by the new listing Realtor as it is a new Use from a new party or company. Photographs do not "come with" a listing.
We will gladly re-shoot a previously photographed listing if a Client prefers us to, but we retain the right to License and re-License copies of our original work, as is our Legal right enforced by US Copyright Laws.
The internet makes digital transfer all to easy these days but "copy and paste convenience" does not bypass License or Copyright Laws or give anyone the right to Use Copyright-protected material for commercial or any other purpose without License, Permission and a fee paid thereof.
Email us for our current License Agreement (72k PDF)