Say i wanted to get a small photo buisness going. take pictures @ lancaster speedway and sell them. would this be easy to do? like just have a website and have people go online and order them? or is there a ton of legal things that are involved. Someone @ my work told me i can get away with it pretty easy as long as its under a certain dollar amount.
thing is there is a guy @ the speedway now that no one likes and he charges an insain price so that why id like to start doing this. Thing is id only do shots from walking around in the pits and victory lane pics. Hes got the full permission to walk around the infield. And it shows that the new guy Ralph has picked up this clown to do the photos http://dunntireracewaypark.com/c/pictures.asp
Sooo what im wondering is can this guy sue me if i take pics and sell them?
You can sell stuff online pretty easy now. There is tons of free software out there that can handle the payment and products and such, you just need to think about watermarking your images online so no one can jack them.
Also, you can use PayPal and use that for payments and such. I have been doing that for web hosting clients and web development clients of mine which hasn’t been an issue.
If you are worried about getting sued and looking for a private small business, just go to the county and file a DBA form. Its $25 plus $6 for a certificate (you only need one) and then you can legally do business under a factious name (ie. CoolSexyPhotos). Since it is just you, you can use your own social security number for the financial information, just you will be required to fill out a extra form when you file your taxes to claim the income. An accountant would better advise you on that aspect but its not hard. Also, try to do some searches on his business and see if its legit, maybe it will be a battle of the 2 illegals.
DBA would be the easiest and cheapest way to go. There is no protection of your personal assets with it (someone sues the business it’s just like they’re suing you and can take your house or whatever) like an LLC but it doesn’t sound like you’re in a business where lawsuits are flying around.
One thing you will have to get is a sales tax license. Somewhat easy to setup (for having to go through the state) and you should only have to file once a year since you won’t be making the amount that requires you to file quarterly.
I have a Canon 40D with a Canon 17-55mm F2.8 IS for now. Tripod and flash is coming in the summer. Big Zoom lens is coming next year with the tax return.
Lancaster gives Dan K exclusive rights to take and sell pictures from Lancaster. He is their exclusive photographer.
At one time my dad was approached to take pictures there like he is. More for the circle track. Lancaster was offering to pay a base, which wasn’t much, and we would have to commit to be there for EVERY event.
Before you think too much into it, see if Lancaster will let you do it first.
If they don’t remember, you will have to pay admission to get in at every event and then hope that people see your pictures available for sale. Plus you may be limited to the locations they let you into.
Dan K gets access to the area next to the tree. You have to have permission to stand there. On some cases, they also make you sign a liability waiver.
The guy there now mounts his camera on a tripod right at the start. He must have the shutter linked to the green light or something. Every picture of my car was a little too early though on the launch. Even the pics of Prior’s car would only show the front lifting maybe 6-8inches, when it does indeed lift the front at least a foot. I think the pics were 25 bucks or something like that. You could buy them right there but it took like 30 minutes or some crap like that. He does have a sweet setup in the pits though. You can walk up to his computer and see all of the pictures that he just took. There will be like 7 or 8 of your car there per event. Not sure how you would do something like that as a freelancer though.
so with him having the rights that means i pretty much without permission from the track cannot take pictures of the cars in the pits or in victory lane and sell them?
You can take pictures so long as they dont have a sign that says no cameras. You however have a vantage point disadvantage. He will get the best of the best pictures and leave you up to your creativity to get the rest.
you can take whatever pictures you want you cannot resell the pictures without authorization. kind of like i can tivo the sabres game but i cant charge people to watch it
i was thinking of doing this myself, with a wide variety of images though. i have access to the best cameras on the market right now and could probably make some good money selling them online, im just not motivated enough to do it right now.
Im doing this more as a hobby. only pics people wouldent be able to get from me is pics of the car in motion on the track. All pits shots and victory lane shots i can get. No one like this guy. No one. they trash him on raceny like its there job. If i made a post on there saying i sell 4x6’s which he refuses to sell anymore im pretty shure i would get most of the buisness.
So some people are telling me in this thread that i can go fo it and wont have a problem. others are telling me that i cannot. So what is it?
I dont know legalities but my guess is that anybody can take pictures at the track. However Dan obviously has ‘rights’ to sell them at the track with the lancaster logo. If you took pix and sold them online without advertising lancaster its no different then me going there and taking pix of my car or my bro’s car? thats my opinion.
I see your point but this is where I wonder the legality. I mean if you video tape someone in public and air it, you are required to get consent for every persons face that shows up. Isnt there the same thing with photography? If you are taking pictures of races but can see people in the pictures, can the same type of lawsuit apply if you sell the pictures and they are in it.
