What Provisions Should be Included in a Photography Contract?
Whether you are a wedding photographer capturing a couple's special day or a family photographer, you need to have a contract between you and your clients. It should lay out the obligations and expectations of each party, as well as the date of the session, the names of the parties, the amount and timing of the deliverables.
Let's get into the details of the five most important provisions to include in your photography contract.
Scope of Work
Your contract needs to set forth exactly what services you will be providing. It's important to provide enough detail so that your client knows what to expect from you and there are no misunderstandings. Spell out the date and length of the session as well as the number of images to be provided,
Intellectual Property Rights
It's important to spell out who owns and has rights to use the images. And it all depends on the nature of your work. For example, if you are doing portraits, weddings, commercial work, you can keep all copyrights and then grant your client usage rights. Or you can transfer all rights to the client upon payment in full. Either way, this is the section to spell it out.
Include a statement on who owns the photos, and how images can be used by each party. If you intend to share the images on your website, on social media, in a paid ad campaign, or submit them for publication, you need to mention that in your contract. At the same time, you need to clearly stipulate how the client can use their images, both personally and professionally.
Creative Control
The contract should specify whether the photographer or the client will have creative control over editing and how much editing the client can expect you to do. This can protect you from numerous requests for re-touching or requests that you edit photos differently from your usual style.
Limitation of Liability
This is where you add language to protect you from unexpected circumstances or things that are beyond your control, such as illness, injury, natural disasters or other unforeseeable events like a pandemic.
Payment and Fees
Payment terms is probably the most important section to include. This is where you specify the timing of payments and whether there are any fees attached for missing deadlines.
And last but not least, make sure both parties, client and photographer, sign and date the contract. Then all that's left to do, is say, "Smile!"
