Photographers: your contracts should clearly describe what type of photography services you will be providing, how much the client will pay you, and who will get the legal rights to the images you create.
For example, if you are photographing a client in the studio or in an event space, you can sign a Portrait Photography Agreement and specify where you will be photographing the subject, and how much it will cost. If you are an artist selling photos that you have already taken, you and the buyer can fill out a Contract for the Sale of Fine Art Photography with a description of the photos you are selling, the price, and any other important details. Or, if you want to display works for sale in a gallery or some other space, you can use a Gallery Contract for Sale of Photography, specifying how long the gallery will hold and display your work, and how large of a commission it will receive for each sale.
Tip: You can choose the contract template that best fits your needs, and you and your client can customize and easily and legally sign it online using Docracy’s Super Signing feature
You need to get permission from anyone you photograph if you want to publish their image for commercial purposes, so make sure to have subjects sign a Model Release detailing what their image will be used for and what, if any, compensation they will receive. For more information about model releases and when to use them, check out our blog post: What's a Model Release? If the subject of your photo is a minor, you can have their parents sign a Minor Model Release.
You may also want to give an organization or a company the right to use your images in its products, in which case you and the company may enter into a Licensing Contract to Merchandise Images, laying out which images you’re giving the company permission to use and for how long, what materials the company can use the images in, and how much the company will pay you.