Introduction
Knowing how and when images can be used is essential for both professional photographers and companies / agencies commissioning them. It seems to be believed by some clients, that by commissioning a photographer all rights to images or even copyright become theirs, but this is not true and hasn't been for many years.
In fact The Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 states that the copyright of the photograph belongs to the the person who took it.
"Copyright is the right of the creator to reproduce their own work and to authorise others to reproduce or copy that work. This right is granted exclusively to the creator of the work and gives them control of their work"
Copyright and Licencing in practice
Put simply under UK Copyright Law the photographer owns the copyright of all images and licences specific usage rights to clients by (written) agreement.
In Practice this means the wider the intended use of the images the higher the photographers fee. Fees ar e based on a combination of the use(s) of the photography and the time required to shoot the job. At the quoting stage it is best to discuss a fee based on initial needs (for example PR use only), in the knowledge that if needed additional rights (eg. annual report or advertising) and relevant fees can be negotiated at a later date. This keeps the costs down for you the client, saving unnecessary expense paying for more rights that you may never need.
Photographers have the right to control copying, reproduction, distribution, display and manipulation of their images. Usage rights not specifically granted to the client remain the photographers. However rights of exclusivity are given to the client (subject to clause 9 of my terms & conditions) which means the photographer is unable to publish or supply the material to any third party for publication during the term of the licence, without the express permission of the client.
Similarly if a third party, contractor or supplier of t he client wishes to use an image for their own purposes the photographer must be contacted directly to negotiate a fee to use the pictures (with the permission of the client), again only the photographer has the right to licence the use of his work.
Where more than one party is involved in paying for the commission (known as multi-party usage) this must be clearly stated at the time of quoting / commissioning. The fee will be higher in this case because of the wider benefit to additional companies. Although each company will be reducing costs compared to commissioning the photography individually.
Physical possession of prints, digital files or CD's does not necessarily grant the right to reproduce the images. Without specific permission or licence from the photographer it is a violation of UK copyright law to reproduce the images in any form, this includes colour copying. It is theref ore important to understand the scope of the usage you require and are licenced for.
Why is copyright and licencing important to photographers?
Copyright has always been important to photographers (the current act came into effect in August 1989). But with the development of colour copiers, flatbed scanners and more recently the internet and web based media it has led to widespread copyright violation and unlicenced use of photographers work. Added to this archiving, unauthorised syndication and rights grabs by third parties, publishers and some clients images are now published far more widely than originally specified.
Sample Usage Licence
- PR & Internal use: Covers PR use, internal, newsletter & client website
- Corporate & PR use: Covers Annual report & brochure as well as the above
- Multi Party use: Covers multiple company use for specified uses
- All uses: This covers All uses by the named client only (not 3rd party use)
These cover various levels of licencing and corresponding varying fees, I can also tailor licences specifically to clients needs.