| ORIGIN OF "DAY RATE"
By
Tom Zimberoff
“Day rate” is just a name. Its
use has become common for the sake of convenience; but it
has been applied
indiscriminately to so many different circumstances that its
meaning has become vague.
The origin of “day rate” comes
from a trade practice that evolved in the magazine-publishing
industry decades ago.
Its initial meaning attests
to the fact that a magazine publisher will guarantee a minimum payment to
any photographer who has been hired to shoot an assignment, even
if no photo from
that assignment winds up published in the magazine. It also means that if
one or more photos is published, then the minimum payment (accrued
for the total
number of days spent shooting) will be applied against a space rate in the
magazine. Space Rates
A
space rate refers to how big a percentage of a page is occupied
by an image. The greater the relative space occupied, the
higher the corresponding fee.
A space rate is sometimes
called a page rate. Both terms mean the same thing, although the latter
obviously was
meant to refer to print media
exclusively,
as opposed to, say, the relative size of a Web page.
As far as the amount
of “real estate” allocated to a single photograph,
the larger its size in proportion to the size of the media on which
it is reproduced, the more money the photographer will be paid.
Therefore, one photo occupying
an entire page commands a higher fee than a photo covering one eighth
of a page. Alternatively, the greater the number of photos
published
on any number
of pages
within one periodical, the greater the pay also. The total fee for
publishing three quarter page-size pictures (whether on the
same page or on three
separate pages) will earn more than a single half-page picture
and so on. Incidentally,
space is not always measured literally. Full-page usage is always assumed
when it is obvious that an image is being featured in a singular
context and as
the center of interest, even though it may be surrounded by a large
border or other
design elements, including text.
Space rates may be negotiated on a
job-by-job basis or, alternatively, the photographer may
accept a rate pre-established by the publisher.
Either way,
if it turns out
that you worked for only one day but the magazine published six pictures
plus a cover, you will be paid for that cover plus the five additional
pictures
that ran inside. On a lucky assignment, you can earn many thousands
of dollars for
your “day rate.”
Just about every magazine establishes
its own day rate and space rate, although both or either of these
rates may be negotiated between
the
publisher and the
photographer; such rates are not written in stone. The concept
of “space
rate” is particularly susceptible to negotiation because
of its inextricable link to usage fees and exclusivity. In that
context,
editorial clients, news
and feature magazines in particular, engage in stiff, almost bitter,
competition for feature stories. They are willing to negotiate
extraordinarily large sums
to “scoop” their rivals. For example, if you happen
to have shot the only existing photos of a plane crash or a celebrity
committing an indiscretion
(okay, even doing something nice!), you can find yourself, or an
agent on your behalf, conducting a bidding war. Any material that
helps sell more magazines,
which in turn helps sell more advertising space, will drive fees
astronomically high. In such a case “space rates” go
out the window.
Back to Earth … it is a widely accepted trade
practice that payment of a day rate entitles a magazine to publish
only one photograph, assuming the
photographer worked for only one day (or any fraction of a day).
If the photographer worked
for two days, then up to two photos may be published; three days,
up to three photos, and so on. It is also traditional for stock
shooters to bill a minimum
space rate of one-quarter page, no matter how small the photograph
is published on a page. Most photographers take that principle
a step further and demand
a minimum page rate for stock, no matter how small the circulation
of the periodical.
Note: As of this writing, the space
and/or day rates promulgated by many American magazines can be
found on a Web
site sponsored by an ad
hoc group of photographers
in San Francisco called Editorial Photographers, or EP:
www.jranderson.com/php/splashpage.php3
Under the terms of a typical editorial assignment,
the resulting photo(s) may be used only one time inside one
issue of one
magazine, and each
instance of
publication is limited in size to a fraction of a page.
An editorial day rate does not typically include a full-page
use
without additional
space-rate
compensation.
Sometimes the photo(s) will be published
in various foreign-language editions or in international editions,
supplementary to the
flagship edition. That
essentially means your pictures will be distributed
to a larger circulation. That might be
reason enough to negotiate for a higher day rate. But,
even if your day rate stays the same, to qualify as a single
issue
or
single use,
all
editions must
be distributed to newsstands simultaneously. Otherwise,
additional usage fees will apply.
Photographers should resist publishers’ demands to include
electronic republishing rights as part of the day rate/space-rate
deal. There is no implied agreement
on the part of photographers when accepting a day rate
to make such an inclusion. Do not let clients take it for granted
that, by licensing your photos to publish
in print, they are entitled to use them in electronic
media, even as so-called “revisions
of a collective work,” or in any other medium
that has not been specifically agreed to beforehand.
That includes
a
prohibition to publish in any other magazines
the publisher might own. The United States Supreme
Court has affirmed that prerogative as the law of the
land in
Tasini vs. New York Times, 2001.
When working for a
day rate, your final fee will be determined by three
factors:
- Number of days spent shooting
- Number
of pictures published in one edition
- Size and placement of pictures published
The photographer will be paid the highest figure that corresponds to one of the
three criteria listed above for any assignment.
To be continued. The next installment will include:
- Pricing a Magazine Assignment.
- Corporate Day-rate Assignments, and
- Time Travel and Production Fees
Excerpt reprinted with permission of the
author from Photography: Focus on Profit
By Tom Zimberoff
416 pages, ISBN: 1-58115-059-8 |
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