Question about Indy IMS and copyright

Raphy

I'm hoping you guys can help me out. I don't want to be in a mess so maybe someone that has been shooting sports knows a thing or two about this kind of thing.

I took photos at IMS during the MotoGp qualifying/practice, etc. They are for my own use and i have only posted them on a few forums just to show ppl... This is a standard practice from what i'm seeing just about everywhere.

I had magazine contact me to use some of my photos... I'm not sure if there are any restriction for me to pass those photos to media or others (por profit or not)...

ANY suggestions, links, or comments would be appreciated. The last thing i need is a lawsuit....

I will contact IMS directly, but wanted to see what others have experienced when taking photos during a sporting event.

THANKS SO MUCH!:clap

davidweaver

They are your photos. You can do with them as you want. No need to contact IMS.

I can't find the great write up on this that a lawyer did, maybe someone will post the link.

You don't even need to know the difference between the uses of the photos as that is the responsibility of the buyer.

You do need to know about the rights assigned when you sell the images.

You didn't mention the magazine but you should get somewhere between 100-200 bucks per image. Maybe a little lower if they are getting a lot of images.

Ask them for a photo contract. Magazine rights are typically exclusive use for 3-6 months and then retain perpetual non-exclusive rights. You should retain all rights to the photos. Newspaper contracts are typically a few days to a month. The contract will likely say this in a couple pages. Magazines want more time as the freshness and the production of an issue of the magazine is longer than that of a newspaper.

***Make sure there is no wording in the contract that requires you to have model releases (written permission, etc) for identifiable people in shots.*** This is very important as you are not responsible for their use of the images you are selling.

Hope that helps!
David

Raphy

Thanks David - that certainly helps... my only worry is that at the back of the ticket to the event, there were restriction listed... and i believe that one of the 1st ones listed is that IMS owns all photos produced at the event... which is ...well... u know....

i will get the exact wording when i get home and look at the ticket....

mercphoto

davidweaver wrote:

They are your photos. You can do with them as you want. No need to contact IMS.

Personally I'd be very, very concerned about that. Definitely talk to a lawyer first. Try doing that with photos from an NFL game for example. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not public property. The race is not a public event. They can restrict you. And you also DO need to worry about how an image is to be used. Editorial use, such as in a magazine, can fall under different legal status than a photo used commercially. Besides, you'll want to know how the image is being used if for no other reason that you want to price your licensing of your image correctly.

fire1035

I would doubt that the IMS would retain the rights to your images as the event is just taking place at their facility. MotoGP is "renting" the track from them for the weekend. That being said I have reviewed my tickets from the events I have attended at IMS. This includes multiple Indy 500s and every Brickyard 400 except 1994 and 1996. The stubs make no mention of IMS retaining the rights to your images. However the back of my 2005 Indy 500 ticket states "All rights to broadcast, record, photograph, repeat, reproduce or recreate the event are reserved by IMS/IRL." But that is for an IMS event not a MotoGP event. Your results may vary. That being said why would they allow your camera/video equipment into the facility? Or as others have suggested, check with your lawyer.

HarveyMushman

davidweaver wrote:

They are your photos. You can do with them as you want. No need to contact IMS.

Not at all true. It is their facility and the organizer's event. In this case the organizer is Dorna and it may help to think "product" when you read "event." I'm not sure what IMS or Dorna policy is, but it is not certain that you are free to sell photos as you please. Some organizers require photographers to buy vendor licenses if they intend to sell their photos. The issue isn't who owns the rights to the images but rather who is allowed to earn a buck from the event/product. Some organizers will consider a photographer to be no different than a hot dog or t-shirt stand--you have to pay the vendor fee.

nipprdog

HarveyMushman wrote:

Not at all true. It is their facility and the organizer's event.

Correct.

donek

In a commercial venture, it's the publisher's responsibility to ensure model/property releases are present and everything is legal. A photographer having a release just makes the images more sellable to the publisher. Just tell the purchaser that you only own the image, but if they wish to publish it they will need to obtain any permission required from the event as you did not get that permission.

Releases are not required for journalistic purposes. If it's a magazine, you and they are in no danger.