Risks faced by freelance photographers and how they can protect themselves
Starting out as a freelance photographer is a great way to monetise a passion, bringing both hobby and career together to form a job that brings joy. However, freelance photography isn’t without its risks.
Many will consider the possibility of equipment theft or damage, but there are many less obvious risks. From legal issues to loss of photos, freelance photographers can face numerous obstacles that require careful consideration and proactive measures.
Rob Rees, Divisional Director at Markel Direct, the specialist insurer of freelancers, shares some of the risks that freelance photographers could come up against and provides some tips on how they can mitigate against them.
- Legal liability
When a photographer is working out on location or at a client’s premises and someone is injured, or property is damaged during the photoshoot, the photographer may be held responsible.
These incidents could include a guest tripping over equipment during a wedding shoot, or accidentally damaging a venue’s expensive flooring with a tripod. No matter the cause, if a third party sustains injuries, or damage occurs while working, it is possible for compensation claims to be made against the photographer.
Similarly, photographers that own or rent a studio are equally at risk. For example, compensation claims could be brought against the photographer for everything from visitors tripping over cables to slipping on a wet floor. With many photoshoot spaces being full of kit, it’s the type of environment where accidents can occur.
- Intellectual property theft
Intellectual property theft can be a major issue for photographers. Photos can be easily downloaded and used without permission across the web, and once out there it is difficult to control the spread of these images and reclaim them.
Photographers are vulnerable to having their images stolen or used without permission, the impact of which could lead to a loss of income from licensing fees or royalties that they would have received if the images were used legally. Also, there is the added worry that images could be misused or associated with unauthorised content, which can damage the photographer’s professional reputation and credibility. As a result, this could impact the photographer’s future ability to obtain contracts.
- Equipment damage or theft
Having access to suitable equipment is essential for any photographer to work – which is why the impact of damage or theft of equipment can disrupt business operations significantly. It can result in missed deadlines, cancelled shoots and strained client relationships, all of which can lead to financial losses for freelance photographers – not to mention the cost of replacing the equipment itself.
- Client disputes
Client disputes are not unique to photography, but due to the subjective nature of photographic styles, disagreements with clients over image composition or quality of work can happen, and may lead to legal disputes. Disputes are not only time consuming, distracting you from your day job, but can quickly become expensive if a solicitor has to be instructed to defend your position.
- Loss of photos
At some point in their career, most photographers will experience data loss due to equipment failure or accidental deletion. In certain cases, such as for studio photoshoots, this can be resolved relatively easily by asking subjects to come back. However, the real problem arises when it’s a one-off event, such as a wedding. If the shots are corrupted or are perhaps deleted by accident from a memory card, a photographer could easily find themselves sued for substantial damages by their client. The cost of re-creating a wedding day – including hire of the venue, flowers, and travel for guests – can run into many thousands of pounds.
How freelance photographers can protect themselves
- Consider arranging insurance
With so many risks it can be confusing to understand which insurance is right. The main ones to consider are public liability, professional indemnity insurance and portable equipment insurance.
Public liability insurance can protect photography businesses against claims for slips, trips and falls, as well as damage caused to someone else’s property. It covers legal costs in defending a claim, and any compensation or costs that may subsequently be awarded, following injury caused to third parties (such as wedding guests) or damage caused to third-party property (such as a hired premises).
Professional indemnity insurance can protect photographers against claims of negligent services. It covers your legal costs in defending a claim, and any compensation or costs that may subsequently be awarded, following an allegation of professional negligence – such as failing to deliver photographs to a required standard.
Portable equipment insurance can protect against the cost of repairing or replacing your photography kit in the event of accidental damage or theft. The cost of replacing a quality lens alone can be significant, so arranging portable equipment cover can help protect your business if something unexpected happens.
- Have contracts in place
It is important before starting work with anyone that a comprehensive contract for services is drawn up which explicitly outlines terms of service, payment terms, usage rights of the photographs, and dispute resolution mechanisms for each project. This should be signed by the hiring party before work commences. This will provide a layer of protection for the freelance photographer which may be needed should anything go wrong.
If a photographer is unsure what to include in a contract, then it may be worth seeking legal advice to ensure that every eventuality is included.
- Protect your intellectual property
Sharing work online is a necessary step for most photographers, particularly those starting out, to gain exposure and attract new potential clients/jobs. However, doing so comes with risks, such as the potential for others to copy and claim their work as their own.
To protect creative work, freelance photographers should consider taking the following measures.
- Watermarks: Apply watermarks to photographs to safeguard content. These watermarks cannot be removed until the owner decides to remove them.
- Selective image display: Only display lower-resolution versions online for a client to view and reserve high-quality photographs for once the client has paid.
- Copyright information: Embed unique copyright details into the metadata of online images to establish ownership, as well as establishing usage rules.
- Image tracking services: Consider subscribing to an online service that monitors usage of your assets across the web and notifies you of where they have been found.
- Securing and backing up data
Establish backup processes for photographs that include both physical and cloud-based solutions, to protect against accidental deletion, hardware failure or corruption. Investing in a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system can help you have backups across multiple drives, minimising the risks in the event the original file is deleted.
It’s also important to secure confidential client data, such as personally identifiable information. This can be done by password protecting or encrypting any sensitive data files and limiting employee access to such files (if your business employs people).
