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How much do strangers abroad get paid when their photos are used in American ad campaigns?

• A friend of mine has a question about how (and how much) people in so-called third world and developing countries get paid when their images are used in American ad campaigns. My friend's question stems from a two-page ad that appeared in a weekly national magazine. The ad, for a well-known computer/electronics company, features a large photo of a small latin boy (probably about 10 years old) in worn clothes and jeans with big holes in the knees. The kid is wearing a great smile but the condition of his clothes leads my friend to believe it was just some kid out playing on the street--not something like a model in a studio. There are four much smaller photos as well, all featuring people in an outdoor setting (ex: a man selling papayas, three woman seen from behind queuing at a ticket window). The clothing and colors in all of the photos would suggest they were taken somewhere in Central or South America. My friend is wondering if the boy or his family were fairly compensated (and what is seen as "fair") for the photo. Or is this something akin to the idea of "Well, since you guys were outside you had no expectation of privacy in the photography sense" -- hence no payment? In situations like this, does the photographer have to get these people to sign releases? For the photo of the boy would the photographer have to get the boys parents to sign a release? Do the people get paid? Any idea of the range? Do they get paid more if their photo is featured in a big ad campaign? My friend has sent the company several emails over the course of a couple of months. The gist of the couple of replies he's gotten is that: - the photographer was a contractor for the company - the company does not give out information about it's contractors - (just received last night, after a couple of more emails) the company contacted their ad agency who contacted the photographer who said the boys family were "more than fairly compensated for his appearance in the ad" I suppose he did get an answer although it's kinda vague. Anyway, his question got the question planted in my mind too so... any ideas/thoughts? (I'm posting this from an internet cafe just before they close so I won't be able to read answers or reply until tomorrow. Oh, and, I'll be sending my friend the URL and he'll probably be checking it every couple of days until the 30-day lock-out so please, even if the question is a couple of weeks old, if you have an answer to add please do so; it'll still be both read and appreciated.) (oh, and sorry if this is a bit lengthy)

• Answer:

  Disclaimer: I'm not a photographer and I've never sold a photograph... But I did take a lot of pictures on a trip to Ghana (Africa) a couple of years ago. My impression was that people are not well compensated for appearing in pictures. This is based on two things: First, most people wanted money if you took their pictures, but were generally satisfied with what amounted to about $0.25 Canadian. Since we weren't planning to make any money from our pictures, we didn't feel badly about the poor price, but the subjects had no way of knowing that. Second, a lot of people didn't want us to take pictures of particular areas and/or people. I got the impression that this was because the people felt that we would exploit the images to portray their country and people in a way that they had no control over. When I mentioned this to a professor who had done fieldwork in Nigeria, she agreed with my interpretation. I'm sure that there are good photographers who pay fair prices for images from the third world. I'm also pretty sure that there is nothing to ensure that they do so, and not much recourse for people who are, in fact, exploited. Kudos to you and your friend for putting the company to the test.