Expert: Don Wood - 11/18/2006

Question
Hello Don, I am not a professional but I recently shot some photos for a friend. I am giving her all the digital files on CD so that she can have them reproduced where-ever she likes. She asked for me to give me a letter giving her permission to have them reproduced since some printing places will require it if they suspect the photos are not taken by you. I want to give her personal reproduction rights while retaining the copyright to my pictures. I need some help in how to word such a letter. Any help will be appreciated.

Answer
You have no problem here. A generic letter would state: I give _________ the right to have my photos reproduce for use as personal photos. I need to be consulted in the case that you have the chance to receive money for them in which case I would expect to be compensated for my expertise. I will then decide what the fee would be.
You will need to date it, sign it and have her sign it, and then make a copy so that she will have it. Keep the original.
I don't believe she'd have a problem getting pictures made at a 1 hour lab such as Wal-Mart, CVS, etc. A professional lab might want to have the release. Generally the person bringing in the pictures is assumed to be the owner of the pictures. Now if you have in some way included (taken by ____) then the release is necessary.
Thanks for asking. You are right is assuming that your pictures are copyrighted even if not notarized by the patent office. If you wish to patent them, you will have to have to research to do to find out the proper way to do so. Most generally, I do not expect you to have any problems.
Good luck, perhaps this will lead to a career. Keep me posted.
Don