Found Undeveloped Film (Page 3): I've never heard of the developer keeping the negatives. Why would he want them? He should pay you for them. They're your property. I can understand...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've never heard of the developer keeping the negatives. Why would he want them? He should pay you for them. They're your property.

I can understand old film not holding onto an image for 25 years.

BebuLamar

Nicholas DeSciose wrote:

The film-Negatives are Yours you have the absolute right to have them return to you. If this doesn’t happen easily it would be very worthwhile to hire an attorney.

I think it's in the fine print of the receipt when you give them your film. I don't know if you can sue.

BebuLamar

jerryc41 wrote:

I've never heard of the developer keeping the negatives. Why would he want them? He should pay you for them. They're your property.

I can understand old film not holding onto an image for 25 years.

Many places are doing it now. They don't want your negatives they want to throw them away so that they don't have to send it back to the store where you drop your film off. They send the scan via internet to the store for printing.

twowindsbear

Buddy Love wrote:

I hope I don't offend anyone but I have to ask. br... (show quote)

How did you determine that the film had actually been exposed, rather than unexposed film?

BebuLamar

twowindsbear wrote:

How did you determine that the film had actually been exposed, rather than unexposed film?

They could be unexposed but the OP question was really why he didn't get the negative back.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

First, you should check the stores policy on processing film. They may have a clause that states that if the negatives are blank, they will not be returned unless requested. If that's the case you don't have a leg to stand on.

Second, in the early days there was a film processor that developed the negatives, scanned the film and digitized them to CD. Somewhere in the process the negatives were destroyed. Don't even know if this technology is still around.

Fredrick Loc: Former NYC, now San Francisco Bay Area

twowindsbear wrote:

How did you determine that the film had actually been exposed, rather than unexposed film?

From what I remember from my film shooting days, and unexposed roll of film had a film lead wrapped a little bit around the canister. Once I shot the entire roll and rewound it that film lead went back into the canister.

toxdoc42

Is this the "new standard" for developing all film? I certainly hope not. It would seem to me, that, the negatives aka the film, is your property. Unless you signed a statement giving the developer ownership, they should have given you back the film.

BebuLamar

toxdoc42 wrote:

Is this the "new standard" for developing all film? I certainly hope not. It would seem to me, that, the negatives aka the film, is your property. Unless you signed a statement giving the developer ownership, they should have given you back the film.

It is getting to be a new standard now. Too bad. In fact if you drop it off a local pharmacy or superstore like Walmart or Target then it's likely it's their standard now.

BebuLamar

Fredrick wrote:

From what I remember from my film shooting days, and unexposed roll of film had a film lead wrapped a little bit around the canister. Once I shot the entire roll and rewound it that film lead went back into the canister.

Usually but not always. Some camera is capable of rewinding and yet left the leader out. You can carefully rewind the film and leave the leader out. You can also retrieve the leader with a tool.

richardsaccount

BebuLamar wrote:

The reason they didn't return your negative is just save the shipping cost of the film back to the pharmacy. Many places now would develop the film, scan it and send the scan (via internet) to the pharmacy for printing. I don't use those places as I only care about the negative because they never scan nor print the way I like anyway. It's a bad practice but so many places are doing it now.

I would try one of the national labs. Bryan's (sic?) in Parsons KS will return your negatives for a fee.
I would do a search engine check of labs.Good luck.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

RGG-Test-account wrote:

I do not care about what it in the film...

What I care about is under what 'reasoning this store allows themselves to keep your negatives?

THAT IS THE QUESTION.

In most cases, a matter of convenience and keeping cost down. Store ships film to a processing lab. Lab processes and scans film, then transfers the images digitally back to the store where they are printed and given to customer. Lab eventually discards negatives. Nowadays, very few pharmacies process film on location. If you absolutely need your negatives, you should go directly to a lab which processes film, not to a pharmacy or convenience store.

ButchS Loc: Spokane, WA

The film processor has no right to keep negatives. If you ask for them, they must give them back.

Some photo processors may hold on to negatives as a "service" to their customers so they can get reprints. But I'm sure that is a very rare practice. But they have no right to keep them from customers who want them back. The film is your property. If they flatly refuse to return them, threaten to report them to the police for theft. If you go to the police station and fill out a theft report, the police will be forced to visit the pharmacy and ask questions. That could be very embarrassing.

If you can afford to pay for a couple of hours of attorney time. Hire a lawyer to write them a letter demanding return of your property.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

ButchS wrote:

The film processor has no right to keep negatives.... (show quote)

Most of the companies that don't return the negs have covered their asses with some fine print on the receipt, and have plenty of attorneys of their own.

ButchS Loc: Spokane, WA

JohnSwanda wrote:

Most of the companies that don't return the negs have covered their asses with some fine print on the receipt, and have plenty of attorneys of their own.

So... customers should just roll over and play dead?

I would also recommend writing a letter of complaint to your state's Attorney General. Report them to the Better Business Bureau, write a scathing review on Yelp, and generally make a nuisance of yourself.