How can I convince clients that licensing an image, rather than buying it outright, is in their best interest?
Because by law we own the rights to our images, freelancers are entitled to charge for every use. In fact, we rely on this source of future income to help balance the cyclical nature of our business, to provide for our families should we become unable to work, and to provide a source of income even into our retirement years as we do not have access to more traditional pension and 401(k) programs. If a client wishes to own the images outright, we must charge a fee commensurate not only with all of the potential benefits that client might receive, but we must be compensated for all of the other potential lost revenue from that image over its entire life. Does the client really need the right to use the image to advertise their lawn care product in the desert regions of the world? Probably not, so therefore they don’t need “all rights” or even “worldwide rights”. The desire for “all rights” or for owning an image is usually one of convenience. If you can help the client to define their ne
