Help! I've been offered my first contract

Lee532

Senior Member
I was contacted today by a news media site who would like to sell sell my photograph on the Internet, first off I'm stunned/overwhelmed/ecstatic, then they sent me a contract.
I have never contemplated this before and I would like to ask those who have experience if the contract reads correctly to ensure I'm not missing anything, I have been offered a 50/50 split of income.


An agreement made between Mercury Press & Media (the Agency) of Queens Gate, 121 Suffolk Street, Birmingham, B1 1LX, England, UK, and Lee Wilson (the Contributor), that states:

The Contributor exclusively appoints the Agency to market, syndicate and sell exclusive photographs of meditating proboscis for publication in worldwide media.

The Contributor warrants that they have the full power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to grant the rights herein contained.

In return the Agency undertakes to pay the Contributor.......% of monies received from collected sales and to pay the Contributor his percentage of sales at the month end following payment being received by the Agency.

The Contributor warrants that they will do everything in their power to protect the exclusivity of the Material, and will - where possible - not allow any other media organisation access to the Material or grant them a license to syndicate/market the Material.

This agreement is not transferable to a third party.

All revenue split monies payable to the Contributor under this agreement are conditional upon the Contributor granting the Agency exclusive license to market the Material on his behalf.

The Contributor is not precluded from entering in this agreement.

This agreement becomes valid and effective from the date of signing and the exclusive rights contained herein are valid for a period of 6 months, and to be re-negotiated thereafter.

This agreement does not pertain to non-media sales.

This is a binding contract governed by the laws of England

Will I rue my decision to sign up or as a total noob to selling my work is it worth getting noticed?
Thanks,
Lee
 

Lee532

Senior Member
Cheers Jay, one from my holiday in Borneo ImageUploadedByTapatalk1448303905.675494.jpg
 

jay_dean

Senior Member
You been taking selfies again Lee???:D Seriously though, i think i might go for it if i were you. Dunno if 50/50 is high or not, but its one image, not your library. You could make something out of an image that you never thought you would. We all throw images around without thinking about profit, we do it for fun, and for free. So, i'd probably give it a go. Just my 2 penneth
 
Why not!!! As long as it a just this one photo and they are not trying to tie up everything you do. It you make a few bucks then you are ahead of where you were. I assume photography is not what you do for a living so anything you make on this one photo can just go to buying more photography gear.
 

Lee532

Senior Member
Why not!!! As long as it a just this one photo and they are not trying to tie up everything you do. It you make a few bucks then you are ahead of where you were. I assume photography is not what you do for a living so anything you make on this one photo can just go to buying more photography gear.

Thanks Don, your right photography is my hobby. Think I'll go for it
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Congratulations Lee,would have thought the 50/50 wasn't bad as you dont want to spend time doing it yourself,just sit back and take the money:D
 

Lee532

Senior Member
@mikew [MENTION=11881]Moab Man[/MENTION] thank you and yes you are both right. It is a hobby for me and I'm over the moon to get the offer. I'm going to talk to them later and sign up for it. Thanks everyone.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
@mikew @Moab Man thank you and yes you are both right. It is a hobby for me and I'm over the moon to get the offer. I'm going to talk to them later and sign up for it. Thanks everyone.

My only reservation is due to the image they have chosen,yes a nice image but not one of your most striking ones,so is it a trick of some sorts offering money for a image you wouldn't have thought had a value,then a clause giving them access to your wealth of great images especially on the aviation front.
Just my mind running the if it sounds too good to be true -------------------------------
 

Lee532

Senior Member
My only reservation is due to the image they have chosen,yes a nice image but not one of your most striking ones,so is it a trick of some sorts offering money for a image you wouldn't have thought had a value,then a clause giving them access to your wealth of great images especially on the aviation front.
Just my mind running the if it sounds too good to be true -------------------------------

My mind works the same Mike, it does say in the contract "meditating proboscis" and I can't see any other clauses. That's why I posted to see if I was missing anything that those with experience may have spotted.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Do you have easy access to legal resources that could also review the terms and validate that there are no loopholes like that? I agree with your interpretation, but here stateside I would probably still run it past a PPA attorney just to make sure I wasn't getting hosed.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
The Contributor warrants that they will do everything in their power to protect the exclusivity of the Material, and will - where possible - not allow any other media organisation access to the Material or grant them a license to syndicate/market the Material.

General question on this...does it mean you wouldn't be able to sell that image to another organization? And where it says not allow any other media organisation access to the Material... does that mean you are supposed to remove the image from online viewing? I've never done a contract so I don't understand all the in's and out's.
 

Lee532

Senior Member
@RocketCowboy I don't without expense unfortunately. @hark I would not be able to sell it to another media organisation for the 6 months of the contract. Nothing about online sharing as they first saw it on Facebook and not asked me to remove it.
I have spoke to them today and agreed to the terms. I get the feeling that they wanted the image as its a monkey in a funny pose rather than photographic excellence.
 
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