Photography Contract

[harrietevans]

Where do i start with making a contract for my wedding/events photography company for customers? It needs to say I have the rights to these photographs as a main point, if anyone can help it would be much appreciated

[R0b]

Hi Harrietevans,

This forum is an advice forum but is not one where we provide contracts for you. I would suggest you seek advice of a proper solicitor to draft something relatively simple for you.

If you want to retain ownership of the photographs then that will fall under the intellectual property clause. For example, a very basic clause might say something like:

"The copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the photographs or any other materials, reports, videos or otherwise which is prepared or created by the Photographer in the performance of the services irrespective of it has been provided to the customer, shall belong to the Photographer."

Obviously you would need to consider whether you transfer ownership of those photographs upon payment or simply grant the customers a licence to use those photographs but still retain ownership yourself.

For a very basic contract, you would need to cover at least the following:

1. Names of the parties to the contract, their address and contact details i.e. you and the customer
2. Price and payment
3. Services to be provided
4. When the contract commences and how long for e.g. the customer engages you for a period of 24, 48, 72 etc. hours.
5. Limitation of liability
6. Jurisdiction and governing law

For simple contracts, it might be best to put it in an order form table, that way the contract is one page with all of the customer details and maybe some basic terms on the other side. Whilst you might not be a legal expert, you should at least ensure that your contracts are in writing to provide some protection and you should also ensure a limitation of liability clause is included to further protect yourself. You may wish to limit your liability to the amount paid under the contract.

[harrietevans]

Thank you so much! It definitely starts me off

[james_law]

If you have a look online and search photography contracts, plenty of templates come up which you can slightly tweak or modify.