DO YOU BELIEVE
IN
YOURSELF?
Denis Montalbetti and Gay Campbell maintain that it's not just copyright law or client budgets that prevent photographers from retaining rights over their images. It's as basic as what we really think of ourselves and what we think we deserve, that is at the root of the issue.
I was having a chat with Peter Adams at the night of the Collection 5 launch. He basically said we have to move on and start educating our clients about copyright. It was a great comment and got me thinking about the number of photographers out there and the fact that many don't entertain strong beliefs about copyright ownership. We all know that the law has changed. If you don't have strong convictions about your right to own the images you create, then copyright will be the first thing to go at the negotiating table. Your belief systems about yourself and your work can sometimes unwittingly undermine your desire to keep this right.
We as photographers must believe in ourselves!
I cannot stress enough how important beliefs are. I recently saw a television program about anorexic teenagers. One girl described the belief systems she had about herself. When she competed in track and field events and did not win, she felt awful and extremely angry with herself. And when she did win she felt crushed by feelings for those who lost. Regardless of whether she won or lost she felt dreadful because of self destructive beliefs. Now, how do you feel if you want more money AND want to keep copyright? If you experience guilt there is a good chance you won't raise your rates and you won't demand copyright. You'd better re-assess your beliefs fast. YOU MUST HAVE EMPOWERING BELIEFS ABOUT YOURSELF.
With empowering beliefs you will know your desired outcome, what you are willing to settle for and more importantly what you will not settle for.
WHAT IS FAILURE?
Even with a strong belief in ourselves, we as humans hate to fail. But what is failure? One knock back? Or 10.100.1000 or 10 000? The answer is WHATEVER YOU DECIDE. Thomas Edison made over 10 000 experiments before he succeeded in inventing the electric light bulb. He never thought of any one of these experiments as a failure. Let's use a photographic example. A photographer enters work into ACMP Collections 1 and 2 with success. A number of pieces are accepted into both. Attending the announcement night for Collection 3, hopes are high. However none of the work makes it and the photographer is flushed with disappointment. Hurt, angry and vowing never to enter again, the photographer leaves the function straight away. When Collection 4 rolls around the photographer is still feeling the pain of failure, doesn't enter and obviously ends up with nothing in that Collection either. Now that really IS failure - they have stopped trying! Many people, in order to avoid disappointment, stop trying and when you stop trying you've failed. So when you demand copyright and get knocked back, don't stop demanding. Learn from that experience and change your approach. Feel the fear and do it anyway!
Peter Luxton, Collection 3
BE READY TO CHANGE
It is important to change your approach if you are not getting the result you desire. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result! When you are negotiating for a job, pay attention and be aware of the approach you are employing. Make mental and written notes of the words you use, how you say them and how others respond. If things need to change, change them! Work to improve your presentations, your quotes and your shoots. How you raise copyright with your client could be the difference between getting it or not. One way is to stipulate copyright on all your quotes and if the client wants to raise the issue with you, let them do so. Remember, copyright is ours by law unless we give it away.
Every time you retain copyright on your photographs consider this a victory for yourself and for all photographers. You will build greater confidence and self respect. Each success will make it easier and easier until it's second nature. You must come from a position that not owning copyright, just isn't an option. (unless you're negotiating for real estate with water views!) This is our position, one we decided upon many years ago. We successfully retained copyright even before the law changed. Since August 1 last year, none of us have any excuses. Let's work on it together.
So, what do you believe? I will say again, I cannot stress enough how important your beliefs are. Take a close look at yours and make sure they are empowering you. You will be amazed how much easier it will be to negotiate copyright, usage, money and what we all want...respect and higher industry standards.
Robert Morehead, Collection
1
This website copyright 2005 ACMP - PO Box 779 North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia
Ph. +61 2 9025 3975 Fx. +61 2 9025 3990 Email: secretary@acmp.com.au
All individual photographs copyright the photographer concerned