Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hanson]

Bare with me on this one...

Just went for my daughter's 100 days appointment at a photo studio set up by the hospital where our baby was delivered. At that hospital, they give us a free special deal with this photo studio where you go to the studio when your baby is 50 days old, 100 days old, and just before the 1st birthday. These three appointments are for a 10 minute video that they make for free (the deal with the hospital) to show at the "dole-jan-chi".

Of course, the special deal is to get you in the door to suck you into buying their precious photo albums (the cheapest one at this studio goes for 600,000w). So they take a bunch of pictures (on top of the video) in the hopes that you will see the photos of your little darling and be swept off your feet and order these ridiculously-priced photo albums.

Alright, so we just asked them if we can have (and pay for) the negatives and digital camera files of the pictures they took and we will make our own albums. We were told we can't have them. They said we can't have the negatives unless we buy a photo album. If we do, then we can get the negatives, but if we don't order, we can't get the pictures. Basically they are holding the photos for ransom...

In a similar story, a co-worker of mine had this same problem at another studio (apparently this is the way they operate here), and long story short (too late), he got his brother-in-law (a lawyer) to threaten the photo studio and told them that it is illegal to withhold the photos. After much back and forth, the studio gave in (reluctantly) and sold the negatives for a little over 100,000w.

And to top it all off, they were rude as hell. When doing the video, they choreographed everything in a ritualistic, but un-natural way, and then try to get you to make the baby smile. When our baby wouldn't smile (who would - it was uncomfortable as hell, the way they set it up), they said 'you are unfamiliar with your baby', and 'you obviously don't play much with your baby' and other such hurtful things.

Bottom line is: how can I get the photo studio to sell us OUR goddamm negatives?

[ThePoet]

Your chances of getting a photo negative from a photo studio are slim to none. The way photo studios make money is to sell you copies and then re-sales of copies later. They would be cutting their throats to sell the negatives as well...essentially if you go to a photo studio for pictures...the artistic merit of the picture actually belongs to the studio...in a way, you are simply paying for the reproductions of their art.

Poet

[Hanson]

Interesting post, Poet. I can see the argument you're making. Then again, 100,000w~120,000w for negatives of a few (40-50) pictures (total time taken = 45 minutes over 3 trips) seems reasonable to me. Hell, that's a nice sum of cash for under an hour's work.

I'm not sure exactly how this goes back home (I'll have to get informed), but I can't see them refusing to sell the negatives.

Also, my friend's brother-in-law (lawyer) said they can't legally keep the negatives, that the pictures have your images on them, and they they must be made available to you. Maybe I'll get this friend's brother-in-law to intervene for me too...

[OiGirl]

I have NEVER received negatives from a professional photographer in the US. Not when I hired a friend privately, not from the Wal-Mart studio, not from the people who take school pictures. Friends who were married in the US did not get the negatives from their photographers, either. You are expected to pay them for reprints.

[Hanson]

Thanks for the input, OiGirl. I find it rather surprising, then, that they would agree to sell us the negatives if we order an album...

[Swiss James]

I'd be surprised if they had any legal obligation to sell you the negatives- just like they don't have any legal obligatoin to sell you the prints. I mean I'm sure they aren't allowed to use either without your permission but that's probably about it.


600,000 for a photo album? Wow that's a rip off- I'd go to a professional children's photographer- which I see all over the place, and pay a lot less for what I assume would be a much more pleasant experience.

(Congratulations on the anniversary!)

[Hanson]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

To put this in perspective, my wedding album was shot in Busan for 1.2 Million. This included numerous wall-sized framed prints, and three books of pictures with 50-60 poses, and the digital files as well (granted, most places don't do that). 600,000 for a cheesy album is beyond a ripoff and it's likely that this "gift" was given after paying the hospital for agreeing to promote it.

Ken:>

[itaewonguy]

[Hanson]

Great story, Itaewonguy - thanks for sharing it...

I wish I had balls of steal, like you, but somehow, I think I'll try the diplomatic route, as well as get better informed about my rights over the negatives first.

But going in there guns blazing is exactly what I'd like to do...