Recently, a lady in Changchun, Jilin Province, encountered a "negative extra charge" situation from a merchant when she took an artistic photo of her child, which caused a heated discussion on the Internet. This woman is not the only consumer experiencing this type of problem. A reporter from the Rule of Law Times visited and found that many citizens in Haikou have had similar experiences, and the merchants also said that they would not provide consumers with the original shooting documents, and the photos outside the package need to be paid extra. This practice is inconvenient for consumers and has also sparked controversy over fairness and reasonableness.
Reporter investigation: most merchants clearly "do not provide original negatives"
Recently, in Haikou Friendship Sunshine City, the merchants of a certain body photo studio enthusiastically introduced their shooting package to the reporter of the Legal Times. However, during the entire process, the staff member did not take the initiative to inform the consumer whether the original shooting documents were available, and there was no posting of instructions in the store to clearly inform the consumer. When asked by reporters, the staff said apologetically: "We do not provide negatives. ”
The reporter tried to use the store's mini program to choose a shooting service for men's professional image photos, and the service description clearly stated that "only 1 edited film in jpg format is provided, and the original shooting file is not provided." ”
In contrast, the description of the so-and-so deer photo studio is more ambiguous. The reporter searched in the store for a long time, only to find such a line in the small words of the "User Service Agreement": "All the products filmed in our store do not provide the original unrefined negative files, but will provide the refined jpg format of the electronic manuscript and paper printed manuscript." ”
After visiting a number of photo studios, the reporter found that most of the businesses made it clear that they would not provide the original shooting documents. Of the seven photo studios, only 1 said they could provide the unedited original for an additional fee.
Is it reasonable for the studio to refuse to provide the original shooting documents? This industry practice has also been questioned by consumers.
Ms. Huang, a consumer, told reporters about her experience. Last year, she spent 1,399 yuan on a family photo shoot at a photo studio in Haikou. However, her family was not satisfied with the retouched photo, believing that it had gone too far, and wanted to get the original negatives to retouch themselves. However, she was very disappointed by the merchant's reply, which made it clear that only retouched photos would be provided, and no original shooting documents would be provided.
Ms. Huang was very dissatisfied with this, and she believed that the merchant's practice was unreasonable, and there was no reminder before providing services, and the obligation to remind and inform was not fulfilled. "Does this count as an infringement of our image rights?" Ms. Huang asked.
In a photo studio in Haikou, customers consult the staff about shooting. Photo by reporter Qin Chuangyuan
Social phenomenon: "additional charges for photos and negatives outside the package" has become an unspoken rule
When taking photos in photo studios, baby first birthdays, family portraits, etc., many consumers are often faced with the dilemma that although a large number of photos are taken during the shooting process, the extra negatives are often discarded in addition to the number of retouched photos specified in the package. Keeping these precious moments means paying extra.
Taking the child's first birthday photo as an example, the reporter went to the children's photography hall in Haikou Wuyue Square, and the staff recommended a 699 yuan package to the reporter, including an 8-inch album and a 7-inch table, and 15 photos in the book. They promised to take 70 or 80 photos for consumers to choose from and refine them until they were satisfied. You need to pay an additional 50 yuan for choosing one more photo in the book, and if the number is larger, you can also enjoy a discount, and consumers can choose freely.
The reporter visited some photo studios in Haikou City and found that in addition to the negatives in the package regulations, it has become a common phenomenon that other negatives need to be charged separately, and it can even be said to be the unspoken rule of the industry. For example, when taking a family photo of three people, many stores said that they would take dozens of additional photos, and that the extra negatives would cost an additional fee, ranging from 50 yuan per photo to 140 yuan per photo. The cost of additional repair of photos in the photo studio of XX division is 80 yuan/piece, and the cost of additional negatives in XX Lu photo studio varies from 100 yuan to 140 yuan/piece according to the number of photos.
Ms. Li runs a personal photography studio, and she also knows some friends who are engaged in the wedding dress and photo photography business. She revealed that the negative films outside the package need to be paid separately, which is already an open secret in the industry, and the charging standard is set by each photo studio, and its main purpose is to guide customers to increase consumption.
On April 9, Ms. Haikoutian reported to reporters that her children also encountered a situation where the photo studio asked for additional money to give the negatives when taking display photos. In August last year, she received a notice from a teacher at her children's training school that the school had partnered with a photo studio to take display photos of "star students" for free. However, Ms. Tian later discovered that the so-called free shooting actually required her to pay about 80 yuan per negative. She felt that she was being "tricked", but in order not to disappoint her children, she finally negotiated with the photo studio, spent nearly 4,000 yuan to buy a certain package, and received a chance to shoot.
Lawyer's statement: Consumers have the ownership of all photo negatives
Who owns the negatives taken by the photo studios? Is it reasonable for the photo studios not to provide the original negatives? Wang Li, a lawyer at Hainan Xianguo Law Firm, said that in light of the relevant provisions of Chapter 17 of the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China" on contract contracts, consumers go to photo studios and photo studios to purchase photography services, and the two essentially form a contractual relationship in which consumers entrust photography operators to create photographic works, operators complete photographic works and deliver work results, and consumers get service products and pay service remuneration. As the result of labor generated in the course of service, the ownership of the negatives has been bought out by the consumer in the commission, so the consumer has the ownership of all the photographic negatives.
"If the photo studio refuses to provide the physical photographs and negatives (electronic data) within the quantity agreed upon by both parties at the time of shooting, it is a breach of contract. Wang Li said.
So, is it reasonable for consumers to pay extra for negatives other than those under contract, and who should own the remaining photographic negatives that consumers pick?
"For physical photos and negatives (electronic data) other than the quantity agreed in the contract between the two parties, the photo studio or photo studio requires the consumer to pay an additional fee to purchase, otherwise it is not illegal to not provide them. Wang Li said that consumers can choose to buy or choose not to buy, and the two sides can reach an agreement on the price. In this case, although the copyright of the portrait photos other than the number agreed in the contract belongs to the photo studio or photo studio, the portrait right still belongs to the consumer, and the photo studio or photo studio shall not use or disclose the relevant portrait photos (including negatives or electronic data) to the outside world without the consent of the consumer, otherwise, the consumer's portrait right will be infringed. At the same time, consumers have the right to request that photo studios or photo studios delete or destroy consumer portrait photos, including physical portrait photos and negatives (electronic data) that have not been purchased separately, otherwise the consumer's portrait rights and personal information protection rights will be infringed.
In addition, Wang Li also said that if the photographer does not clearly inform that he will not provide the negatives or that there will be an additional fee for providing the negatives, it will infringe on the consumer's right to know.
Lawyer's advice: Consumers should pay attention to the content of the contract when purchasing photo services
"When consumers purchase goods or services, they enjoy a number of rights, such as the right to know, the right to choose, the right to fair trade, and the right to safety. Therefore, consumers also have the right to claim ownership of the negatives when purchasing photo services. Wang Li suggested that consumers must pay attention to the content of the contract when purchasing photo services and ensure that the contract clearly stipulates that the consumer has the ownership of the negative. If the photo studio does not comply with the terms of the contract, the consumer can require the photo studio to perform the contract and restore their legitimate rights and interests. If the studio still does not perform, consumers can complain to the relevant departments or protect their legitimate rights and interests through legal channels.
In addition, Wang Li also suggested that in order to avoid disputes, photography operators should provide services in strict accordance with laws and regulations, and truthfully inform the service content, service standards, service fees and other matters. After the consumer chooses the shooting operator, he should fully communicate with the other party, agree on the shooting details, quantity, and price, especially whether the negative is given away, whether the original negative film or the retouched film is given, and considering the popularity of digital photography, it is also necessary to agree whether the electronic version or the printed version will be given, whether the method of gift is network transmission or a copy of the storage device, and the ownership of the copyright of the photo, etc., and carefully check the terms of the contract and sign a written contract after confirmation. (Reporter Qin Chuangyuan, Wang Tianyu)
Editor in charge: Wang Bei