What is a Photography Contract?
A Photography Contract is your MOST important legal document. If you only have one contract in your photography business, this is it!
A Photography Contract sets out the legal agreement between a photographer and their clients.
It covers all of the important terms of your assignment, including services, payment terms, cancellation policy and intellectual property rights. It also includes important legal clauses for liability, dispute resolution and termination.
Your Photography Contract should be tailored to each specific client. A well written agreement will not only provide you with legal protection, it will also help manage your client’s expectations.
Do I need a contract?
Yes, absolutely! A contract protects both you and your clients.
You should always have a contract signed before you start a new photography job for a client.
Putting things in writing protects both parties and gives certainty.
Contracts are about more than wrapping your clients up in red tape and telling them what they can’t do. Think of your contract as relationship insurance: it does all the hard, boring work of keeping the relationship on rails, so you can focus on the fun part – the actual photography.
What does this Photography Contract template include?
Our Photography Contract template covers everything you need:
★ Schedule – table with summary of the assignment (shoot details, deposit, fees etc) on the first page
★ Services – description of the services you will provide
★ Cancellation Policy – how you will deal with cancellations
★ Fees – how much you will charge, including deposit
★ Expenses – any extra expenses incurred for the shoot
★ Payment Terms – covers your payment terms, including how you will deal with overdue amounts
★ Use of Third Parties – allows you to use assistants (e.g. a second shooter)
★ Intellectual Property – this covers intellectual property rights, including licencing the photos
★ Attribution Credits – credit for your photos each time they are published
★ Client Responsibilities, Warranty and Indemnity – what you need the client to do, plus important legal terms to protect you
★ Promotion – consent to use the client for promotion in your business
★ Limitation of Liability – to protect you against claims for losses and damages
★ Termination – how either party can terminate the agreement
★ Force Majeure – clause to protect you for ‘acts of god’ and events outside your control
★ Dispute Resolution – process to deal with any problems that may arise
★ General – standard contract clauses such as Assignment, Severance, Entire Agreement, Waiver and Governing Law
Who owns the legal rights to the content?
We have written our contract so that the photographer retains all legal rights to the photos and videos they take.
Once full payment is received. the photographer grants a licence to the client to use the photographs or video for the purposes set out in the contract. We have worded this to provide extra protection for the photographer’s rights.
The photographer continues to hold the commercial righs to the works so they can use them for promotion or advertising too.
How do I make sure i get credit for my work?
We have included a field in the Schedule for Credit so you can make sure you get attribution credit for your work if you want to have this.
Do I get to choose my own deposit amount and payment terms?
Yes, you do!
You can specify a deposit amount and a payment schedule for the balance of the fees.
We have also included the option for a Cancellation Fee, which you can charge if a client cancels a shoot within a certain amount of time from the shoot date.
Are there any other names for a Photography Contract?
Yes, you might have also heard this contract referred to as a Photography Agreement, Photography Terms and Conditions or a Client Agreement.
All of them are basically the same thing, just different names for the contract you use with your photography clients.
Can I use the client’s name and logo to promote my work?
Yes, we have included a Promotion clause in the contract where the client gives consent for you to use their name and logo to promote your business. You have the option of deleting this clause from the Photography Contract template if your client wants to remain anonymous or doesn’t give permission for you to use them for promotion.
Why should I invest in a quality Photography Contract template?
You’ve spent countless hours dedicated to learning how to attract the right clients.
Your heavy financial investments in your own personal growth are slowly but surely paying off.
You’re not going to let all that go to waste with a crappy contract, are you?
The booking process is the most fragile part of the selling process. Don’t let your future clients slip away with a shady contract, pieced together like Frankenstein.
With this contract template, your clients will know you take your business seriously. You’ll stand out from your competition, but best of all, your clients will trust you right from the start.
Is this Photography Contract template legally binding?
Absolutely!
All of our templates have been drafted by qualified Australian lawyers who hold an Australian legal practicing certificate.
We are affiliated with a commercial law firm based in Sydney.
I have an Apple Mac – can I still use this template?
Yes, but we recommend you have Microsoft Word installed on your Mac.
Our documents contain smart fields which use a Microsoft Word feature called content controls. They help to save time in updating the template, but may not display correctly in Pages or Google Docs.
If you need a version of your template without the content controls, this is available for immediate download once you complete your purchase (you can download both versions).
Can’t I copy terms from someone else or download a free template off the internet?
We don’t recommend this approach for a few reasons:
1. You may be committing copyright infringement, which is against the law.
2. You might accidentally copy terms and conditions from another country – if you end up in court for some reason it might be on the other side of the world.
3. Our template has been drafted by an Australian lawyer to make sure it’s legally binding here in Australia.
