New idea to promote photographer-model pairs

[Dobalena]

I'm working on a business idea on which I would like some feedback. The idea is to get photographer-model pairs to sign a three-way agreement that allows a business to post and sell that photographer's photos of that model online, with the photographer and model both receiving (probably) a percentage of the income on any photo sets sold. There are no constraints on the photo content. Neither the model nor photographer would be charged, and 1-5 samples per set would be permanently posted online, free of charge. The only catch is if the photos don't sell, then nobody makes any money. The businessman with whom I'm dealing thinks it's a good idea, but I just got back some (very sketchy) feedback in a modeling forum that questioned whether such an idea is viable/sensible/legal/etc.

Does anybody have any insights or feedback about this idea? I can't think of anything wrong with it, but admittedly I don't know of anybody who has tried it.

For simplicity, assume that all photos are of adults, assume that all models are female, and assume that any necessary licenses for possible adult material have been obtained. Or, if you want to jump into future complexities, you can provide insights into whether/how adult material and nonadult models could coexist in a database without running into problems of minors viewing adult material or of tastelessly displaying both together on publicly viewable web pages.

[brian.austin]

Viable is a risk analysis. Not enough information.

Sensible is a subjective conclusion. Irrelevant without marketing surveys.

Legal is the only hard/fast objective conclusion you could reach from this. If the agreements are structured correctly, yes, it's legal.

From a business model perspective, you won't be the first. There are already sites out there doing this and I know one guy who is developing a social site ala Facebook aimed at something like this. No more details on that, though, since I'm under NDA for anything further.

Honestly, I can't imagine typing a long, detailed response for this, especially your last paragraph's followup "simplicity" questions. Way, way too much involved.

[Dobalena]

Thanks for your valuable feedback. Creating such a site seems like an obvious thing to do, so I couldn't understand the hostility I was getting. Maybe women were suspicious because it seemed too good to be true, or maybe they didn't understand the idea.

[zero rc]

an interestng enough idea, sort of like a cross between modelmayhem (models/photog's) and istock (stock photography available for purchase). it sounds liek a lot of it is still up in the air, but its interesting and would like to hear how this pans out. so do you plan on just hosting others images, or acting as an intermediary between models and photographers? like brian said, have a good atourney go over the ideas and draft contracts (check out model releases on the internet).

[Dobalena]

Originally Posted by zero rc

so do you plan on just hosting others images, or acting as an intermediary between models and photographers?

Mostly I plan on just hosting the pics. If I try to act as an intermediary, then I'd become mostly a modeling agency. Yes, this idea is definitely in the formative stages, which is why feedback is so valuable at this point: so that I don't inadvertently launch into some Huge Mistake.

I'm unfamiliar with modelmayhem, so I'm definitely going to have to check that out.

I'm also a photographer, but at the moment I'm just an organizer for this idea. I'll be checking out the other areas of this forum eventually: there's a lot more I want to learn about indoor lighting, for example. Thanks again for all your feedback.

[Ed Shapiro]

OK- So I am old school or just plain OLD. I believe that in order to make money and earn a decent living in the photography business one firstly has to know what one is doing and create a "viable" product. A good portfolio then has to be produced' The next step is to seek out markets for the type of work that you do- this requires research, networking and pavement pounding and a solid business plan- all not terribly exciting as shooting pretty ladies but nonetheless has to be done.

"Adult" images are not hot commodity anymore- they are available on newsstands, television and on calenders issued by automotive parts and body and fender shop paint suppliers. Some folks out there even consider rather innocent but somewhat sensuous images as pornography- too bad but that, sadly en ought, is an unfortunate misconception in the wold of cyber images nowadays- I guess there is too much smut out there and it reflects badly on artistic nude or even pin-up photography.

Being an old timer, I just like the concept of being hired for a job and getting paid for it. Speculation can be fun under certain circumstances but I just don't think E.business applies as well to photography as it does to cutlery sets and "miracle" rust removers.

Model schemes? - dime a dozen. Well qualified models don't want to work on spec or for some free prints. Wannabe models don't look too good- harsh but true.

The proceeding post is merely the opinion of a grouchy old photographer. Best of luck in your venture! Ed