Real Estate Photography image rights

ampimagedotcom wrote:

Brett8883 wrote:

.. the realtor has every right to not pay you.

If they didn't agree (in writing) to hire me to do the work for them beforehand, then they would not need to pay me anything afterwards, unless they used my images or wanted to use my images - is my understanding of how it works across the board.

Common sense and the law don't always agree.

The law does recognize the concept of oral contracts.  They can be problematic if there is disagreement as to what was said, and there is no record or witnesses.

There are various actions which strongly suggest that an agreement was reached.  Such as telling the venue that you hired a particular photographer to photograph your wedding, or showing up at his studio for engagement photos.

An obvious example of a binding oral contract is a customer who goes to a restaurant and orders an expensive meal.  Suppose the meal comes, and the customer throws it in the trash.  He has not used the services of the restaurant, he has not eaten the food, yet a court may determine that he owes the establishment the menu price of the meal.

If you orally ask for something to be created, you may be liable to pay for that creation, even if you don't use it.

Suppose you ask a photographer to shoot your wedding.  He spends 5 hours shooting, and many hours editing and spends money producing a beautiful album.  On the honeymoon, you catch your wife cheating on you with some guy she met at the hotel pool.  You have the marriage annulled.   When you get home you tell the photographer that you are no longer interested in the photos, and since you are not using him, you don't feel you need to pay him.

Trust me, a judge would likely rule that you need to pay the photographer, unless you had a specific clause in the contract that exempted you from paying should you decide you no longer want images.