Pierre Martin in Chavignol – December 2008A few weeks ago I received the following email from US importer of Domaine Martin’s Sancerre.
‘I was searching for photos of our newest Sancerre producer (Domaine Martin) and found your wonderful photo of Pierre (whose vines our cuvee is bottled from). We would love to be able to use your photo on the producer page for the Michael Skurnik Wines website.
I know that you own the rights to these. Would you be willing to allow us to use this photo? We would credit you for the image of course…
Let me know what you think.
Thanks.
Also, I just want to let you know that your website is quite impressive. Very informative and interesting, especially for us Loire valley wine geeks…’
The domaine in Chavignol is now run by young Pierre Martin, who is doing a good job. I replied that they could, of course use the photo with a credit, but there would be a charge of £60 for its use – had I been properly commercial I would have quoted according to size wanted and placement in the website. To this day I have not had the courtesy of a response. I see that they have used copies of the labels instead.
The domaine in Chavignol is now run by young Pierre Martin, who is doing a good job. I replied that they could, of course use the photo with a credit, but there would be a charge of £60 for its use – had I been properly commercial I would have quoted according to size wanted and placement in the website. To this day I have not had the courtesy of a response. I see that they have used copies of the labels instead.
This is not an isolated incident. It appears that there is a widespread assumption that now that photos are digital they should be free. My experience of wine magazines in mainland Europe and I gather some magazines covering other subjects often decline to pay for the use of photos. Instead they expect the writer to provide or source the photos for free. The expectation being that writers will approach the wine producers they write about for pictures.
A few years ago I was asked by a leading UK trade title to write a news report on the Salon des Vins de Loire as well as to provide a few photos. When I sent in my invoice covering both the text and the photos, the deputy editor was scandalised. ‘It’s outrageous that you are charging for a few snaps.’ Incidentally the price I charged for the photos was the same as I had previous invoiced this title a few years previously when it was under different ownership. Fortunately the editor had a different view and the invoice was paid in full.
Do people think that there is no cost in taking digital photos? Once the camera, including the memory card and any lenses if using an SLR, have been bought, it is true that there is no further cost in physically pressing the shutter unlike when film was in use.
With a moment’s thought, however, that this is far from the end of the story.
Let’s take my picture of Pierre Martin in Chavignol. I took it when researching a story for Decanter on red Sancerre. This involved a trip over from Touraine. Although my accommodation was funded by the Bureau du Centre, I paid for the transport costs: petrol and motorway tolls.
It takes considerable time to download, organize, catalogue and display photos. As a self-employed writer and photographer, this is unpaid time. I took a number photos of Pierre Martin, so that I could select the best, which are filed on a separate hard disk and backed up on another. Further costs, although disk storage is relatively cheap today.
I now have a large and ever expanding library of photos, especially from the Loire. I’m delighted to be asked for photos but if it is for commercial use there will be a charge. They are covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 UK: Scotland License. I have to make a living.
I’m sure that Domaine Martin’s US importer does not give their wines away for nothing not even if their customers promise faithfully to pass on their business’ details if their friends enjoy the wines.
