• Asked by
• Todd L.
• |
• January 19, 2012
• |
• Nobody else has this question

How do the models get paid?

Hello Yuri,

Fabulous work you do…..beautiful!

I have a question if I may ask, with all the people in your stock photos I am sure you need each one of them to sign a release form correct? I was wondering how you go about asking them for this?

I am asking because although I am very new to the stock world I have asked a few people and the response I get is “What am I getting from this”? (Which is understandably normal)

Do you just pay them for the whole shoot or do they get a percentage of the sales on the stock sites? I would assume you are paying them for the whole shoot correct?

Well I hope you will have time in your busy schedule to drop me a reply, if not I understand.

Take care and thank you,

Todd

• Answered by
• Yuri
• |
• April 20, 2012
• |
• No one likes this yet

Hi Todd.
You are absolutely right in assuming that all my models sign a model release. Without a model release, I would not be able to sell the images at all.

So far there is no stock agency that will agree to pay a model royalties. The administrative challenges in this are simply too great. In stock, the model is usually paid a fixed amount for doing the shoot, and it is then the photographer who receives royalties. This also means that it is the photographer who's taking all the risks. If the images turn out not to sell at all, the model still gets paid, but the photographer will lose money from having done the shoot.

The models I work with are almost always professional models, so signing a model release is something they are used to and have done many times before. It is standard within the industry, and a professional model should not be surprised about having to sign it.

The fee a model receives for a shoot is different each time as it depends on the model, the budget for the shoot, the kind of shoot, the model's experience, etc. etc. It's difficult to say something specific about it.

I hope you can use the answers although they aren't super specific. :)

Best Regards Yuri Arcurs