Proper Invoicing for Sold Photograph?

June 13, 2006 11:36 AM

I recently sold a photograph (of dragonflies copulating, no less) to an Italian publishing house. They asked me to send an invoice and appropriate tax information. This is the first time I've ever sold something like this; can anyone tell me what forms, et cetera I ought to use or make? Thank you!
posted by Coherence Panda to Work & Money (7 answers total)

You can find a sample invoice here and some more advice here. If you have a tax ID number, you should include it on the invoice, but often freelancers just provide their SSN in lieu of a tax ID #. You should stipulate that you be paid in US dollars. Can I ask which publishing house?
posted by mattbucher at 11:51 AM on June 13, 2006

If they don't have a US arm or affiliate to pay you through, you could consider asking if they'd be willing to pay via PayPal. The PayPal fees would be offset by not having to pay international check fees to banks on both ends, plus the convenience.
posted by staggernation at 11:56 AM on June 13, 2006

Response by poster: Thank you both very much. The publishers are Adriano Salani Editore
posted by Coherence Panda at 12:01 PM on June 13, 2006

You should ask that you be paid in US dollars.

It's also important that you clarify the copyright issue. Do you maintain the rights to the image and they get to use it in their book/magazine, and you can use it elsewhere? Or do they now own the image and you don't get to use it for anything (excepting portfolio/expos/etc.)?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:19 PM on June 13, 2006

Or do they now own the image and you don't get to use it for anything (excepting portfolio/expos/etc.)?

If they bought (not licensed) it, I'm not sure you'd even be able to show it in your portfolio without their permission. Make sure your invoice states very clearly which rights are being granted/reserved in exchange for said fee.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 1:11 PM on June 13, 2006

Dragonfly sex...never really thought about it, but now that you've raised the issue, I'm curious about the picture!
posted by davidmsc at 6:15 PM on June 13, 2006

Must be some image. Yeah, let's see it!
posted by thebarron at 9:55 PM on June 13, 2006