Terms and conditions

1. Agreement

These terms govern your use of this website and any photography or video production services provided by Fate Studios Creative, LLC, a California limited liability company trading as Fate Media Creative ("we", "us", "our"). By using this site, requesting a quote, or engaging us for a project, you accept these terms.

Where you sign a separate proposal, statement of work or service agreement with us, that document and these terms are read together. If they conflict, the signed document governs for the project it covers.

2. Use of this site

The text, design, code, images and video on this site belong to us or to our clients and are protected by copyright. You may view and print pages for your own business purposes. You may not copy, republish, scrape, resell, frame or use them to train a machine learning model without our written permission.

Do not use this site to transmit malware, attempt unauthorised access, interfere with its operation, or submit false information through our forms. Submitting a quote request does not create a booking, reserve a date, or form a contract.

3. Services and quotes

We provide corporate photography and video production, including headshot sessions and instant-delivery headshot booths, live event coverage, on-camera interviews, and commercial and brand films. We do not photograph weddings or private social celebrations under this brand.

Quotes are estimates based on the scope you describe and are valid for 30 days unless stated otherwise. A quote covers only the deliverables it lists. Anything added later — extra hours, extra crew, extra edits, extra deliverable formats, additional locations — is quoted separately and must be approved in writing before we proceed.

4. Booking and retainer

A date is held only when we have both a signed agreement and the retainer. The standard retainer is 50% of the quoted fee, and it is non-refundable because it compensates us for turning away other work on that date.

Until both are received, the date remains available to others. If another client attempts to book a date we are holding for you informally, we will contact you before releasing it, but we are not obliged to hold it.

5. Payment

• The balance is due on or before the shoot date for single-day work, and per the milestone schedule in the agreement for multi-day or post-heavy projects.
• Invoices not governed by a milestone schedule are due net 15 from the invoice date.
• Overdue amounts accrue interest at 1.5% per month, or the maximum permitted by California law if lower.
• We may withhold delivery of finished files while an invoice is overdue.
• Fees are exclusive of applicable sales and use tax, which is added where required.
• Returned payments and chargebacks incur a $35 administrative fee plus any bank charges.
• You are responsible for costs of collection, including reasonable legal fees, on amounts properly owed and unpaid.

6. Cancellation and rescheduling

Cancellation must be in writing. The retainer is not refundable in any of the cases below.

You may reschedule once at no charge with at least 14 days' notice, subject to our availability, and we will apply the retainer to the new date. Later or repeated reschedules are treated as a cancellation and rebooking. Third-party costs already committed on your behalf — travel, equipment rental, talent, permits, studio time — are payable whether or not the shoot goes ahead.

7. Travel and expenses

For work beyond 50 miles of San Diego, California, travel is quoted in advance and typically covers mileage or airfare, lodging, ground transport, baggage for equipment, parking, and a daily per diem. We quote these before you sign. We do not add unquoted travel costs to a final invoice without your written approval.

8. Client responsibilities

To let us do the job properly, you agree to provide:

• a single named point of contact who can make decisions on the day;
• venue access for load-in, setup and strike, including any required credentials, badges or escorts;
• adequate space, a nearby power source and reasonable lighting conditions for a booth or interview setup;
• any permits, venue permissions or union clearances the location requires;
• a run of show, shot list or priority list far enough in advance to plan crew and coverage;
• notice of anyone who must not be photographed, and of any restrictions on content, competitors or embargoed products;
• appropriate notice to attendees that photography and video are taking place.

If we cannot work because access, power, space or permissions were not provided, the time is still billable and we are not responsible for coverage we could not obtain.

9. Creative control

We bring our own judgement to framing, lighting, editing, pacing, grading and selection, guided by the brief you give us. Editing style, colour treatment and which frames make the final selection are our decisions. If you need a specific look, name it before the shoot so we can plan for it.

We will make every reasonable effort to capture the moments on your list, but at a live event we cannot guarantee any particular photograph. Some moments cannot be repeated.

10. Delivery and revisions

• Photography. Standard turnaround is 48 hours for a curated event gallery. Same-day and 24-hour delivery are available as paid options. Booth headshots delivered through the AI system arrive within seconds during the event.
• Video. A first cut is typically delivered within 5 to 10 business days of the shoot, depending on runtime and the number of deliverables. Rush post is available at a premium.
• Revisions. Video projects include two rounds of revision on a delivered cut. Further rounds, or changes that alter the approved scope, script, structure or length, are billed at our then-current hourly rate.
• Feedback. Please consolidate notes into a single response per round. Revision rounds are treated as complete when you approve, or after 14 days without a response.
• Delivery dates assume timely feedback, timely approvals and timely payment. Delay on your side moves the delivery date accordingly.

11. Files and archiving

We deliver finished, edited work. Raw files, unedited footage, project files, LUTs and unselected frames are working materials and are not part of any deliverable unless you have purchased them separately.

Galleries are hosted for 12 months after delivery unless your agreement says otherwise. Archived masters may be kept beyond that but are not guaranteed. Please download and back up your files on receipt. Re-delivery from our archive, where possible, is subject to a retrieval fee.

12. Copyright and licence

We retain copyright in all photographs, footage and finished work we create. Nothing we produce is a work made for hire unless a signed agreement expressly says so.

On payment in full, we grant you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use the delivered work for your business purposes, including:

• internal communications, intranets, directories and training;
• your website, social channels, email and digital advertising;
• print collateral, trade show graphics, annual reports and press use;
• recruiting and investor materials.

The licence does not permit you to resell or sublicense the work as stock, to license it to third parties as a standalone product, or to use it to train a machine learning model. You may not alter delivered images or footage in a way that materially changes their content and still present them as our work. Individuals photographed at your event may use their own headshots for their personal professional purposes.

Exclusive licences and full copyright assignment are available and are quoted separately. Credit is appreciated but not required.

13. Portfolio use

We would like to show selected work in our portfolio, on our website and social channels, and in proposals to other prospective clients. You may decline this in writing at any time before or after the shoot, at no cost and with no effect on anything else in the agreement.

Where material is confidential, embargoed, unreleased or covered by an NDA, it stays out of our portfolio permanently and we will not request otherwise.

14. Releases and consent

You are responsible for obtaining the releases and consents needed for the people, places, artwork, music, logos and products appearing in the work, and for giving attendees appropriate notice that photography and recording are taking place. We can supply standard release forms and signage on request.

We will not photograph anyone who declines, and we will remove a specific individual from a delivered gallery on request where we can identify them.

15. Headshot booth and facial recognition

• Participation is voluntary. Attendees sign up on their own device and consent before any face matching occurs.
• Any attendee may decline face matching and still receive their photographs by entering their contact details for each session.
• Face templates are used only to route photographs from that event, are never sold or used for model training, and are destroyed within 30 days of final delivery. See the biometric data notice.
• Delivery by text message is subject to our SMS program terms. Message and data rates may apply and carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
• You agree not to instruct us to use face matching for attendance tracking, security screening, access control, employment decisions or any purpose other than photo delivery, and we will decline such instructions.
• You are responsible for telling your attendees, in your own registration materials or on site, that a photo booth using facial recognition will be present.
• Throughput estimates are estimates. Delivery speed depends on venue network conditions, carrier delivery times and the accuracy of the contact details attendees enter.

16. Force majeure and substitution

Neither party is liable for failure to perform caused by events beyond reasonable control, including severe weather, natural disaster, fire, power or network failure at the venue, illness, injury, death, epidemic, strike, civil unrest, terrorism, war, or government order. If that happens we will try to reschedule; if rescheduling is not possible, our liability is limited to a refund of amounts paid for work not performed, less non-recoverable committed costs.

If a named crew member cannot attend, we may substitute a qualified professional of comparable ability without changing the fee. If we cannot staff the booking at all, we will refund everything you have paid, and that refund is our entire liability.

17. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to a project — in contract, tort, statute or otherwise — is limited to the total fees you have actually paid us for that project.

We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost revenue, lost business opportunity, lost data or reputational harm, even if we were advised such damages were possible.

Where equipment failure, data corruption, card failure, theft or loss results in some or all of the work being unrecoverable, our liability is limited to a refund of the fees paid for the affected portion. We mitigate this risk with dual card slots where the camera supports it, redundant backups and same-day offloads, but it cannot be eliminated.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under California law, including liability for fraud, gross negligence, wilful misconduct or personal injury caused by negligence.

18. Indemnity and insurance

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless against claims, damages and reasonable legal costs arising from your use of the delivered work beyond the licence granted, your failure to obtain a required release, permit or consent, your instructions to us, or conditions at a venue you controlled.

We carry commercial general liability insurance and can provide a certificate of insurance naming your organization or venue as additional insured, usually within one business day of a written request.

19. Confidentiality

We treat unreleased products, internal strategy, financial information, attendee lists and anything marked confidential as confidential, and we bind our contractors to the same standard. We will sign your NDA where its terms are reasonable. This obligation survives the end of the project.

20. Non-circumvention

Where we introduce you to a photographer, videographer, editor, producer or other contractor engaged through us, you agree not to engage that person directly for substantially similar services for 12 months after the project ends without first offering us the opportunity to staff the work on comparable terms. This clause protects our client and contractor relationships. It does not restrict anyone's right to work, and it is not a non-compete; California law does not permit us to restrain anyone's lawful profession, trade or business, and we do not attempt to.

21. Independent contractor

We provide services as an independent contractor. Nothing here creates an employment, partnership, joint venture or agency relationship. We control the manner and means of our work, supply our own equipment and insurance, and are responsible for our own taxes and for the engagement of our crew.

22. Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of laws principles.

Before filing any claim, the parties agree to raise the issue in writing and attempt to resolve it in good faith for 30 days. If that fails, the parties agree to non-binding mediation in San Diego County, sharing the mediator's fee equally.

If mediation does not resolve the dispute, it will be settled by binding arbitration in San Diego County under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, before a single arbitrator. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may bring a qualifying claim in small claims court instead, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property or confidential information.

Class action waiver. Claims must be brought individually and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective or representative proceeding.

Opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration and class waiver provision by emailing info@fatemediacreative.com within 30 days of first accepting these terms. Opting out does not affect anything else in this agreement.

23. General

• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect and the provision is reduced to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable.
• Waiver. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment. You may not assign your rights without our written consent. We may assign to a successor in connection with a sale or reorganization of the business.
• Entire agreement. These terms, together with any signed proposal or service agreement, form the entire agreement and supersede prior discussions.
• Survival. Sections 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 and 23 survive termination.
• Changes. We may update these terms. The version in effect when you signed your agreement governs that project. Continued use of this site after an update means you accept the updated terms for site use.
• Notices. Written notice is effective when sent to the email addresses on record, or by certified mail to the business address on file.

24. Contact

Fate Studios Creative, LLC dba Fate Media Creative
San Diego, California, United States
Legal: info@fatemediacreative.com
Phone: (619) 495-2320