Before I begin, I must say as a prologue that I do NOT like the "business" side of being a professional photographer; I vastly more enjoy the interaction with my wonderful clients, and the excitement of the creativity that goes into every minute of the process, starting all the way from the time of booking  a session and getting a feel for the clients' vision, through the session experience itself, and in post-production making tweaks to perfect the memory of that moment in time.  But the "business" part is a necessary evil, and I want to make it easier for my clients to understand the concept of reproduction rights and copyrights in digital photography. 

Before DSLR cameras, it was much simpler:  You book a photographer or studio and pay a sitting fee.  Then you see proofs that were actual prints.  Then you can buy those proofs or prints in other sizes.  If you wanted to purchase the negatives so that could make additional prints or just to have the originals, you might not even be allowed to buy them, but if you could they probably cost you an arm and a leg.

These days, we have "digital negatives," which seems to be a really confusing issue.  How can something that isn't exactly a physical product be an additional cost?

So when you book a session with me, the cost includes some prints of your choice.  As an add-on, you can purchase the "reproduction rights as high resolution files."  This means that when you book your session, you do not automatically get to use the images in your digital online gallery.  If I upload onto Facebook a watermarked image, you can certainly tag yourself and use that photo in digital media (provided that you do not crop out the watermark!).  You can use that watermarked image on your phone or desktop screensaver.  You can make it your profile or cover picture.  You can share that watermarked image on Twitter.  You can NOT put it on Instagram and run a filter to alter the colors though.  That is technically modifying the "digital negative."  But you can do a lot of things digitally with any watermarked images I upload on my Facebook page.  And of course, you get to choose which images you want for your prints, and I never watermark prints.

Now, if you want to.....

*Use the digital images on any form of media WITHOUT the watermark;

*Print announcements, cards, invitations with any image(s);

*Print any prints beyond what is included in your session package;

*Make a canvas;

*Create an album book;

........Those are examples of why you would need to purchase the reproduction rights.  There is a letter of consent that I give you, which even in Walmart (thankfully!) they do faithfully require to see, or they won't print the images.

When you purchase the rights, every photographer has their own policy.  Mine is a bit different - Some people charge per image, some people offer a select number for a set price, it really varies for each photographer. 

For me, with the purchase of reproduction rights, I give you ALL of your images, regardless of how many are in your gallery, and I also allow direct downloading for any family and/or friends with whom you want to share those images, for no additional cost whatsoever.  If you purchase the rights, you get all of your images, and you can share them with anyone you want, and you are free to wallpaper your house with them.  :)

*****One special note is that, even if you have the reproduction rights, if the photograph is of some product that you or a friend/relative is selling (knit newborn hats, a makeup artist or hairstylist from your wedding day, a dress that is worn in a family photo shoot, etc.) THOSE IMAGES may NOT be used by that person in their business.  I am happy to share watermarked copies of any images if those vendors would like to promote their products or services, but the best thing is for them to contact me directly and I will happily share an appropriate image if they want to use it on their website and/or Facebook page as part of their portfolio or as promotion for their business.

Now about the "Copyright":

I have focused on describing what is entailed by "reproduction rights"; Now I will address the "copyright" of the images.

The copyright of any image I create as the photographer always stays with me.  That means that I am the only one who can alter the image.  I will always keep the copyright to that image.

On very rare occasion, a photographer may be willing to sell the COPYRIGHT to the clients, but this almost never happens.  I can only think of an example of an extremely private client who is in a high-ranking, high-power, or political arena of work, vulnerable to media scrutiny (paparazzi?), and for protection of their personal life, perhaps they would want to ensure that noone, not even the photographer, could have access to their digital negatives.  In that case, the photographer turns over all digital copies and retains nothing.  This sale, however, is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE.  EXTREMELY.  Like, insane expensive.

So I hope that this explanation has cleared up any questions you may have had (or didn't realize that you did have!) regarding what it means to purchase "reproduction rights" as a separate cost, as well as knowing that the copyright isn't usually something that is sold.  

Please note that I am not an attorney, and the above information is intended only for my clients to better understand my policies.  Make sure you check with your photographer prior to booking to thoroughly understand their prices and products to avoid any upsetting surprises!