Here's the thing with Boudoir Photographers:
They
will display your images on their website whether you like it or not. If you think you can pay a licensing fee to prevent them from doing so... you already have enough money and you don't need to be camming. Exclusive rights are wicked expensive!
If you receive digital files, 9/10 times, you will only receive watermarked images appropriate for web use. Most boudoir clients don't feel comfortable placing those images online but in the event that they do, the photographer wants that to drive business their way. Certainly you can crop out a watermark... but then you run the risk of upsetting the copyright owner... the Photographer. The real money in Boudoir is in the albums and prints that clients buy to stash at home for their own viewing. None of this is wrong! They are well within their rights.
Here's the thing with the Model Mayhem crowd:
There is a certain risk that comes with your average MM user in that most of them don't have a business reputation to protect. This is no good for you or them. That's not to say that all of them are shady people... I myself have a MM account and I'm a pretty okay dude. There are some very fine photographers on Model Mayhem. There are also some really awful "photographers" on Model Mayhem that prey on people who don't know the industry.
Here's what you do: Look for photographs of models you follow and admire. Find out who shot it. Find out who else in the industry that photographer has worked with. Ask the models what their experiences with that photographer were like. If everything seems kosher, ask that photographer what your rights to the images will be and what they intend to do with them after your transaction is complete.
There are several photographers around that have worked with Cam Girls and know the industry. Some of them are pretty great people with a lot of talent. Always check references.
There's my advice.
Now, here's my plug:
I am the co-owner of
Adult Indie Productions. I have worked with many cam girls and content creators. I am available for hire as a photographer and videographer. I operate on a work-for-hire basis, meaning that I retain no copyright to your content... your content is yours and the only watermark appearing on your content would be yours. Anything displayed on my website or social media is displayed with permission because the people I work with are super rad and understand that I need to display my work in order to get more work and I am very clear with models about where I will display such content (read as: There's a contract). There are some models I have worked with that have requested (via contract) that I do not display anything I have shot or filmed for them. It's not the most ideal circumstance for me... but I respect it.
Models:
All of you:
Copyright is the most valuable asset in your content. Granted, it does not protect you from having a shady dude or dudette post, share or sell your content elsewhere. But it means there are ramifications for said shady dude or dudette.
Getting a photographer to release copyright to you is pretty fucking rare. And not unjustly so. Nobody is looking to screw you over by retaining the copyright to your images. Professionals are looking to protect
themselves with copyright and provide themselves with a means for potential future income by being able to license their imagery to someone else in the future or (back when people still purchased prints) charge you to come back to them for a print. It's not personal. It's business. For instance, I absolutely
do not release copyright in my personal work... only in adult work.
That doesn't make people like me special snowflakes... just rare snowflakes
I release copyright because:
a) I care about the industry and the people in it.
b) I have no commercial use for your imagery. I don't care to sell it to someone else in the future and I know pretty damn well that you're not going to come back to me to buy prints.
c) I already have too many hard drives full of imagery.
