| TERMS FOR THE SUBMISSION OF STOCK PHOTOGRAPHS (continued) The question of valuation... No area of our "Terms for the Submission of Stock Photographs) yields more comments, questions and concerns than that of valuation. This is an attempt to clarify the issue.
As mentioned in our Terms For the Submission of Stock Photographs (www.bnpub.com/terms.html), most photographic submissions are now made digitally, making the question of valuation of original transparencies a moot point. However, since we do still receive a small percentage of of our submissions as color slides or B&W prints, the issue of valuation is still occasionally discussed, or referred to in photographer's paperwork. The photographs that are submitted for our projects vary greatly in film format, labeling, and packaging. Many are sharp originals while many others are fuzzy dupes, even from professional photographers and well known agencies. Some photographs arrive well protected in archival sleeves with bar coding and well written labels stating the photographer's contact information and the subject details. Others arrive loosely tossed into envelopes with little packaging material, hand written paperwork from the photographer, and no identifications on the individual images (particularly on medium format (120, 6x6 etc). Upon close examination, the actual surface of many submitted transparencies are immaculate while a great many others have the normal fine hairlines that often occur at the hands of the world's separators. Hairline scratches are very often hard to see ... what might be fairly obvious to one experienced photo editor might escape another. Many images have arrived with severe scratches, gouges, and cresent-moon folds. Many transparencies arrive completely sealed so that their condition cannot be ascertained without incurring a "comp fee". In this last case, are we to assume that all sealed transparencies arrive in perfect condition? Since the quality varies so greatly we cannot accept a blanket value on the submitted film without first receiving and examining the film itself. Once that is done, we can agree to a dollar figure, per transparency, in case something unforeseen happens and your images are lost or irreparably damaged. Usually this agreed upon amount is no more than $500 per transparency. If images are sealed and cannot be examined without incurring a "comp fee", then we accept no valuation, since images are often submitted with prior existing damage. In the specific cases where you require a higher valuation, please speak with the Photography Director. Back to "Terms" Barnes & Noble . 122 Fifth Avenue . New York, NY 10011
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