AboutSteve Meltzer Expertise I am a professional photographer and I've been shooting for newspapers, magazines, commercial clients and artists for over 30 years.
I have shot stock photography for dozens of years and in 1977 created West Stock (Seattle, WA) which was one of the first to produce stock photo CDs and later one of the first to establish an online stock photo slaes site.
I have a new book on digital photography "PHOTOGRAPHING ARTS, CRAFTS AND COLLECTIBLES (Lark Books, 2007)which is available at Amazon.com, eBay.com and in bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders. I have another book, CAPTURE THE LIGHT which will be puiblished in November, 2008.
I write 20-30 feature articles and columns for regional and national publications a year.
My education includes studying with photographers like Cornell Capa, Duane Michels and Oliver Gagliani (from the Ansel Adams Center.)
Expert: Steve Meltzer Date: 11/22/2006 Subject: business handover
Question I took some pro photos for a resort (kept the copyright), which will be sold soon and have new owners. Can the new owners use my images or can I charge a new useage fee?
Thanks. Very much appreciate answer.
Answer Ute
This rather complex. If you retained the copyright that's good but what rights did you sell? If they were for all uses by the buyer or if it wasn't in writing you are probably out of luck at the get-go. Rights purchased by a business are transferable. You sold the pictures to the business for business uses not to an individual. And part of the sale to the new owners will include exsiting buildings, business goodwill and promotional material.
What I'd suggest is that you go to the resort's new owners and tell them that you had shot those photos and would love to work for them. Especially since new owners may want their own publicity and you've done it before you might get more work.
You might even get lucky and they might ask you what it would cost to buy the rights to use your pictures in ways the original owners hadn't paid for.
But if you get too hard nosed about the photosand use fees, they might just find someone else to reshoot the resort to their tastes and needs and you lose big time on all counts.
