Keiko is Jeremy’s dog (fashion & beauty photographer), Zaza is the dog of LJ (creative retoucher) and Shortie is the dog of Lynn (photo assistant).  Our 3 little friends don’t come to the studio on a daily basis, but occasionally pay us a visit (if they would show up every day, our productivity would come to a halt)!

Those shots were taken by photographer Jeremy himself, and he just used a simple background in our photo studio, and Shorty’s shot was taken outside.

He took the shots with his new Hasselblad H4D, currently probably the most advanced and high-end camera on the market.

Meet Keiko..

..and Zaza!

.. and finally, Shorty!

Recently we stumbled across an interesting case in which a Greek man sued a Swedish diary company over a Turkish yoghurt image which the company purchased from an Icelandic image stock company which they purchased from a French photographer.

Again:  Greek guy –> sues Swedish firm –> because of an image of him used on the packaging of a Turkish yoghurt brand –> which was bought from an Icelandic image stock company –> which licensed it from a French photographer.

This case is a good example why we always recommend to pay great attention to have solid and easy-to-understand model release form with any person who appears on an image which is used for commercial purposes (and regardless if those are employees, models or friends).

What basically happened was that 77-year-old, traditional Greek farmer Minas Karatzoglis was photographed by a French travel photographer called Yvan Travert who sold the image to an image stock agency called Nordicphotos who licensed the image to the Swedish diary company Lindahls, which used to the image to brand one of their Turkish yoghurt products in a couple of different countries.

So Lindahls did not do anything wrong, as they had purchased the appropriate rights!

The problem was that the French photographer did not have a proper release from of Mr. Karatzoglis, therefore he actually did not have the right to license the image to the image stock company!

So when Mr. Karatzoglis found out about this unrightfull use of his image, he sued Lindahls for $6.9 million US (according to Sveriges Radio (SR) Jönköping). Greece and Turkey have been divided by long-standing hostilities, making it an even hotter topic!

This was in April 2010, how did it turn out at the end?

Lindahls has paid $270,000 US in compensation to Mr. Karatzoglis! Obviously Lindahl is now seeking compensation from the photo agency, and the photo agency probably from the photographer!

Lesson learned – Be sure to have model release!

More links:

http://www.thelocal.se/25980/20100409/

http://www.thelocal.se/27776/20100714/

See below some of the finished work ..

Below some real snapshot of the actual store (Shanghai):

This project underlines Rimagine’s aim to help retailers in China with their entire marketing, be it professional photographs of their store(s) or products, or the layout and production of all sorts of marketing material.

Following little video will give you a great introduction to the world of image licensing.

Regardless if you need an image for a new brochure, your company website or your product packaging, it is important that you have a document (such as a quote or invoice), clearly stating that you have the right to use the specific images in terms of the required time, media and territory.

Not having such a document protects the photographer or the photo studio, and not you as the client! This is one point which most marketing managers and image buyers are not aware off. Again, if you don’t have a document stating that you (as the client) may use the image in the desired way (see below), the photographer in this case remains  the sole owner of the image (even if the object is a product of the client and the photographer got paid for the job!).

There a common practices in different industries. For example, when dealing with cutouts or packshots (simple product shots of products in front of a plain background), usually copyrights or usage rights are not an issue. In this case, the photographer or the photo studio should license the images to the client without any limits in regards to time, media and location.

However, when creating unique and complex images (for example with models, on-location, or with a complex setup), it’s a standard practice that the photographer (or studio) charges an extra usage right fee, which depends on the following desired usage in terms of:

• time (e.g. 3, 6, 9, 12 or more months),
• media (e.g. website only, catalog, advertisement, packaging, etc.), and
• location (e.g. China only, or also Hong Kong/ Taiwan, Japan, USA, etc.).

These three terms cover most of the basics – in some special cases, additional issues such as exclusivity, portfolio rights, etc. matter as well.

Also keep in mind that not only the photographer gets paid more for a greater usage, but also the model, and sometimes also various stylists.  Those usage fees don’t have to be enormous, but are typically in the range of 20-30% of the according service fees for each additional usage, e.g. one extra country, one additional media or one more year.

Following short checklist can help you to cover the basics:

✔ Are you clear on what the image will be used for?
- Will it be used for a billboard advertising campaign? A brochure? Website? Mobile?

✔ Have you confirmed the duration of the license you need?
- How long do you want to use the image for? A week? One month? Several years? Check when the license expires and check the length of the campaign or project the image will be used for.

✔ Are there people in the image?
- Have you checked that a necessary model release form was signed by the model for the image?

✔ Are there any trademarks or logos in the image?
- Have you checked that the photographer holds any necessary property release(s) for the image?

✔ Are there any buildings in the image?
- Have you checked that the photographer holds any necessary property release(s) for the image?

✔ Are there any differences between copyright issues in China and the rest of the world?
- No. As China is one of the 160 countries which signed the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, all rules and regulations which apply in the rest of the world, such as in the U.S. or Europe, also apply within China.

Above video, and above FAQ are courtesy of Stock Photo Rights, a new and great site to learn more about image usage rights. Please keep in mind that this blog post is not a substitute for legal advice from your lawyer.

“A good Cuban cigar closes the doors to the vulgarities of the world”. Franz Liszt

Copyright Genco Berk Design
Copyright Genco Berk Humidors
Copyright DeLight Humidor

Special thanks to creative director Ben, graphic designer Suzan and photographer Chad!

The entire project included following services:
On-site Photography of the plant, workers, processes, etc. by Chad Ingraham (Rimagine)
Digital Retouching of the best 25 shots by our retouching team
Creative Direction by creative director Ben Chuang
Graphic Design by Suzan Kadribasic (Rimagine)
Project Management by Lynn Hou (Rimagine)
Copywriting and Editing by Rimagine’s translation partners
Printing of a Chinese and an English version, several thousand

Besides some industrial photography, we also have done some quite nice shots for Ziva, a brand owned by a British company called Olympic Life. In total, two male and two female models were photographed in our studios (Shanghai). The products are beautiful and have a great feel to it. Have a look..

Also, Chad has created some nice industrial shots of a rather ’standard’ factory in China. Our client Wolverine (a JV between an American and a German company) asked us to produce some ‘dynamic and innovative’ industrial shots of their plant here in Shanghai. The team thinks the shots turned out well..

Furthermore, we are very happy to be able to add another company to our list of top Chinese clients: Matsu, an office furniture producer. Matsu has many Fortune500 companies on its client list and their products are truly of great quality and sustainability. Besides Matsu our list of Chinese clients now also includes China Eastern Airline, and the Shanghai Tobacco Group. Below are a two shots of the shooting.

Last but not least, we worked for the first time for one of the world’s leading home appliance brands – Bosch! They indeed have beautiful products of very high quality, and it’s a pleasure to photograph these.. below are the first shots of a lot to come!

In total, more than 80 staff members have been invited to a nation-wide casting, of which 20 of the most appropriate looking employees from all over China have been selected.

Under the creative direction of the new Shanghai-based agency Cool Fun, we organized the entire production with multiple casting and pre-production days and the actual 4,5 shooting days.  The shoot took place both in our Shanghai photo studio, and on various locations such as at the Hongqiao airport, various airport hangars, tarmacs and offices.

Some behind-the-scenes impressions of the shoot:

And volia three of the first final (studio)  shots:

Shooting Team:
Photographer: David Wei (Rimagine) – view portfolio
Producer: Jiang Lei (Rimagine)
Agency/Art Director: Alfred Xu, CoolFun
Studio: Rimagine photography studio Shanghai

S/S 2010 Max Mara and Louis Vuitton - Shot by Jeremy Stockton Johnson

Photographer: Jeremy Stockton Johnson
Fashion: S/S 2010 Louis Vuitton, MaxMara, Prada, Ports.
Models: Irina (Elite) & Iris (Esee).
Stylist: Bleu Lee (Visual Concept).
Makeup: Bleu Lee (Visual Concept).
Hair: Gary (Visual Concept).
Studio: Rimagine (Shanghai)