Licensing your images
After taking the picture, the next step for most of our members is to earn revenue by licensing the image. We generally don’t “sell” a photo. Even if we sell a print, this work is usually sold with a contract that limits the owner of the physical print to display on a wall, which does not allow for reproduction rights. In some cases, the license might state that the print cannot be displayed in a public venue or a commercial establishment or office.
Whether the photo is shot for a client or as a self-assignment to be added to a stock library, any reproduction of the image is generally licensed for a specific use at a specific fee. This licensing model dates back over 100 years to the beginning of the wedding and portrait photography business. ASMP members have learned that a good photo, if properly licensed, can be resold multiple times over the years to create a lifetime annuity.
Licensing assignment photography usually begins before the photo is taken. Discussion of the assignment fee should go hand-in-hand with a discussion of the rights the client is licensing for that fee. Licensing rights must be very specific. Below is a partial checklist of items specified in a licensing agreement:
- Frequency, quantity of press run and duration of license granted: For instance, “One-time only use” or “Ten issues over 2 years.”
- Media use and application: List the types of usage allowed, such as consumer or trade advertising, publicity, editorial, corporate uses, billboard, TV news and movie background. Usage can be as specific as saying “One-time editorial use, in the July 2, 2004 printed issue of Newsweek Magazine only. No electronic or other uses permitted”
- Size and placement of work: For example, “One-quarter page or less, one-time editorial use, in July 2, 2004 printed issue of Newsweek Magazine only”
- Exclusivity: Are you giving the client exclusive use for a specified time? This could limit your income, so you might want to increase your fees.
- Credit line requirement: Are you specifying a credit line with each use? Will you specify a copyright credit line? Do you require it adjacent to the image, or can they run it on a credit page in the back?
- Penalties: Some photographers specify penalties if the contractual terms are not followed.
Careful with words. Clients may occasionally use some licensing terms incorrectly, or may use terms that do not even have any generally accepted meaning. They may ask for “all rights,” buy-outs, exclusives and copyright transfers, without actually knowing what these technical terms mean. In most cases, the client doesn’t need these rights, and granting them will reduce your future revenue stream. If you do decide to grant these rights, make sure that you know exactly what rights are included and that you are compensated for the income you could have received from future licensing of this work.
All rights usually means that the client can use the image anywhere, anytime and in any way. It even includes the power to turn around and sublicense the image to others. You still retain the copyright, however, and can license the same image to other clients; exclusivity is not granted unless specifically licensed. ASMP recommends that the rights you are granting should usually be more specifically described.
Buy-out is vague and can mean almost anything unless specified. In most cases, the client is asking to buy your copyright and all ownership that you have in the image. If so, it should be specified, and each party must sign a contract agreeing to this. If you do transfer your copyright, you may not be able to use the image at all in the future. You might even have to seek permission to use it for your own promotion or portfolio display.
At one time, exclusive meant the licensee had the right to use the image for a specific time period, during which no one else would be able to use the image. Now there are specific exclusives, such as electronic use. In fact, even that term is a bit vague nowadays. Are you talking about CD-ROMs, PDF files or worldwide web use? Will people be able to remove your image out of the electronic file and reuse it without your permission? If it is on a web site, will the use be editorial or a banner advertisement? This should all be specified. Will you give the client permission to archive the electronic file, or after use will they be required to delete the file from their computers?
Further information on this important subject can be found in Chapter 6, Formalizing Agreements, of the book: The ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography.