Rights and Royalties -- Birds of Earth

Birds of Earth -- Call for Entries

ROYALTIES and other bennies (what contributors get if chosen)

Besides a month of fame with your photograph appearing on desks, bookshelves, and coffee tables all around the planet, there are 3 other benefits for contributors whose images are selected:

Complimentary copies
2 copies of the finished calendar will be shipped to your location anywhere in the world once a calendar you contribute to is finished. Contributors may also purchase additional calendars (to resell, use as gifts, or for self-promotion) at the wholesale price of US$8 each (half of the $15.99 retail price).

Web promotion
Each image in the calendar will have its own page on this website, illustrating that month's with a short blurb about the bird(s) and the photograph, along with a direct email link, website link, or photostream links to the photographers. Your image and credit will be seen in other Birds of Earth online marketing, such as on social networking sites like FaceBook or in retail venues like Amazon.com.

One-time Royalty Payment
Once you have seen how your photograph will be presented and approved it, I offer each of the 12 contributing photographers a one time royalty payment. The royalty for each photograph used in the calendar is 1% of the gross sales for the calendar you participate in. There is no advance. Most sales will have happened by the New Year, a few more may trickle in during January and February. By the end of March, my accounting for the calendar year will be done and the royalty will be calculated and paid to each contributor at that time.

Since some calendars will be sold at retail, some at wholesale, and others given away as complimentary copies and for promotion, the royalty is calculated on calendar sales income (does not include accessories like frames). In other words, the royalty is based on gross sales, before expenses like printing, cases, and shipping.

I encourage potential contributors to approach this project as something fun they want to be a part of and not to expect huge financial rewards. I've no idea whether a contributor's royalty will amount to $20 or $200. Birds of Earth is new and little known, and calendars have a short shelf-life. However, if the calendar takes off as some kind of internet phenom, all the contributing photographers will have a share in its success.

RIGHTS & PERMISSION

To each of the 12 contributors chosen in a calendar, I am seeking one-time permission to print their image in one of the Birds of Earth calendars, in as many copies as can be printed and sold until March of that calendar year, and to use it in promotional and marketing materials that will help sell it—on this website as it develops, shared on social network sites, group emails, in point of purchase displays, advertisements, and other marketing materials. Previous year calendars will be archived on this website.

Your permission for calendar rights will not allow me to use your photograph in any way other than to publish and sell the calendar. All other rights remain the copyright holder's (yours) exclusively. For example if I want to make a coffee table book called Birds of Earth and re-use your image, I will have to renegotiate with you for those rights separately. Or, if someone approaches me wanting to purchase a separate print of your photograph without any of the calendar type, I will either have them contact you directly, or make a separate arrangement with you for those rights.