HIGH QUALITY IMAGERY AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING & PUBLICATION

About - Licensing Thomas Schoeller Imagery

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I have an extensive portfolio of high-quality photographic imagery that may be of interest for publication use and various commercial licensing applications. My imagery has been published nationally in major magazines, calendars, books, internationally sold jig-saw puzzles, and even for TV programs. If you have interest in using my imagery for any purpose, including commercial, publications or private usage, please be sure to read my policies and guidelines below.

All uses of my © protected work for any reason, including but not limited to publication, commercial, or private use are subject to fees and a Limited Use | License agreement contract. For anyone interested in Licensing my Photographs - you must contact me personally.

I am a self-managed photographer, I am not represented by a micro stock agency. I manage and negotiate my own license agreements with each potential lessee on a case-by-case basis. You will always deal directly with myself, and you won't find my imagery on any third party stock photo websites. I am in no way obligated to agree to terms I am uncomfortable with, and I reserve the right to decline any inquiry for any reason. I need time to review ALL request to license my work carefully before proceeding.

Many variables come into play when it comes to product licensing and pricing. Factors such as the intended use, the Print Run (if applicable) the length or duration of of time requested for use, the size needed etc.. All my image licensing is handled on a case-by-case basis.

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Typical uses include, but are not limited to:

- Magazine publications

- Calendars

- Brochures, Pamphlets, or Business Cards

- Books

- Website uses including site banners or visual content

- Blog articles

- Commercial Advertisement / Anything used to sell or promote a product or business

- Travel Guides

- Corporate Holiday cards

- Billboards or Graphics in public places

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Disclosure of Full Details and Contact Information

If you are interested in licensing any of my image files, I request you to present me with a complete list of details specific to the intended use of my photographs. My policy is you must also provide your full CONTACT information. Name, company information for commercial use, complete address, and both an Email address and telephone number where you can be reached.

It is presumed that I will need to follow up on your inquiry with additional questions in order for me to determine licensing fees. The complete body of my work, including all text (copy write) and © photographs, are protected by Title 17 of the U.S. Code on Copyright law. All unauthorized use is subject to legal action and heavy fines.

About Licensing Agreements

It is also important to know, when "licensing" imagery from a photographer, you are NOT purchasing, "buying" or ever taking ownership of the image or the Copyright. You are "renting" the image (intellectual property) for a pre-determined length of time. Moving forward, the imagery can only be used under the exact conditions set forth as stated in a license agreement contract. Licensing contracts regulate every detail pertaining to the usage of the image and prevent the lessee from transferring the imagery or contractual agreement to another party. In addition, the lessee will never own the Intellectual property rights of that image at any time.

Each image requires a "One Time Use - Limited Time" license agreement that I will provide directly via invoice. The only circumstances I don't provide my own contracts are for well established - nationally distributed magazines and calendar publications that have their own boilerplate contracts.

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MAKING DERIVITIVE PAINTINGS FROM MY ARTWORKS

Let me begin by stating I'm an advocate for - and equally support ALL artists. I also serve as an advisor for the Connecticut Art Gallery. So, what happens is I get the occasional requests -- by artists -- to use my photographic images as a "reference" to make their own derivative artworks from. My highest level of concern is an artist that intends to reproduce my artwork as realistically as possible - which is known as photorealism. The end game, in most cases, is to benefit only themselves & to monetize the results. The legal definition of this method is plagiarism, the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

After creating "their original" photorealist derivative on either canvas or other media, they'll usually have digital copies made to sell as art prints online. Some of the request I've entertained have been rather colorful! When they end their spiel to try and convince me, they'll put the icing on the cake and say "Oh yea, and I'll even give you credit!" (geez, thanks)

Those first few request dating back years ago were flattering, but I admit, I've never been totally totally comfortable with the idea. I'm easy-going by nature and I'm always inclined to help out any artists whenever I can. However, when being solicited to "donate" the fruits of my labor for nothing more than the brief mention of my name, that's not acceptable on any level. I feel it radiates a condescending vibe that fine art photography is less "worthy" than the genre' of art that person works in.

I am truly in awe of the amazing & wonderful talents displayed by artists in every medium of work, and I have the utmost respect for their original artworks. To put all of this this into it's proper perspective, let's quickly switch sides here. I'll never request of an artist to allow me to take a photograph of their works and say "hey I'll even give you full credit" and then attempt to monetize the results of the images I made of their original artwork.

IT'S NOT JUST A SHUTTER CLICK

The imagery on my website isn't just a simple click of the shutter that gets uploaded to an online gallery. The journey begins with a modest investment for travel expenses. The costs includes flights, vehicle rentals, food, lodging, and in some cases a photo assistant. Afterwards I'll spend hours of my time processing and preparing the image files for print. That doesn't begin to add up the tens of thousands of dollars I've invested into professional equipment to create all of the imagery I have in my collections.

In addition to my personal financial expenses, there is also blood & sweat equity. This begins with advanced location research, many miles of hiking and waking up at ungodly hours to get my butt on the road and hit the hiking trails to trek to my planned destination. Now let's add in all of those close encounters with Bears, really pissed off Moose & Elk, the trips and falls, foot blisters, sunburn, wrong turns on the trails, and getting caught at high altitudes during lightning storms while hiking in and out to get the shot I dreamed of.

So before any artist creates a derivative artwork from my own, there is a proper and reasonable way to go about this. First, you'll need to CONTACT me directly and allow me time to review your request. I may have questions to follow up with, and might even enjoy a chat by phone. If I'm satisfied with the situation and approve, the following step would be to LICENSE the imagery from me. I'd be happy to create a workable agreement with the artist that fairly compensates both parties and go over all of the details together.