The following is a guide to common licence clauses included in commercial licences issued by fluttphotographic.net, In no way does it constitute a licence for any images managed by flutt.net or fluttphotographic.net. For more information please contact licensing@flutt.net.
Licences are granted on a case-by-case basis and may apply to single images or specific sets of photographs. Some licences apply to work which has not been specifically commissioned and is available for editorial or stock use, others apply to work commissioned for a specific purpose. Below is an overview of licence terms commonly used when drawing up licences for images managed by flutt.net and fluttphotographic.net. It is not an exhaustive list of terms and licences can be drawn up to cater for specific criterion. For more information get in contact.
With all licences no usage rights will be granted until terms have been agreed and, in certain circumstances, full payment has been received. To use images outside of this would constitute infringement of copyright.
Initial licences are generally granted for a 2 year period covering a single country of publication (in the case of the United Kingdom this is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). However depending on the scope distribution of the publication carrying the work, this may be amended. The licence begins on first insertion, and first insertion is generally expected within 6 months of delivery of the final images. Territory restrictions for Web/on-line publication are usually broader. Exclusivity may be granted on a different territorial or time period basis to that of image use.
These specific clauses cover licences granted to individuals or organisations for publication on-line, for example on news websites and blogs.
Web / on-line only licences usually include clauses relating to the site images may appear on, the maximum size of image reproduction and the number of pages images may appear on within a site. They also usually stipulate if an image must be removed from an archived article at the end of the licence period. The right to a credit is usually asserted for on-line publications except where it is agreed by both parties that to include a credit would artistically compromise the site or image.
These specific clauses cover licences granted to individuals or organisations for publication in print or broadcast media such as newspapers, magazines and television.
Licences for print and broadcast publication unusually include clauses relating to the specific publication or programme the image is licensed for use within. They may also contain clauses relating to the circulation of the media containing the image. Terms relating to reprint and repeat of the material and additional royalties due to the copyright holder may also be included in the licence as appropriate.
The right to redistribute images is usually retained by the photographer. However, certain licences will include rights to redistribute the images by the licence holder. In such cases it is usual for the licence to contain a clause outlining the percentage of future earnings due to the copyright holder upon re-licensing of the images to third parties.
The rights for publication in all other media is reserved by the photographer. Licences are available for publication across other medium (cinema, etc.) on a case-by-case basis.
Initial licences are generally granted for a 10 year period covering a single country of use (in the case of the United Kingdom this is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), although depending on the project commissioned these terms are often modified. The licence begins on first insertion, and first insertion is generally expected within 6 months of delivery of the finished job to the client. Further licences and extensions to the initial licence may be granted in the future.
As commissioned work has a very wide scope of usage an agreement relating to the extent of use and publication media is drawn up before the work is carried out. This may cover areas of use such as brochures, catalogues, inserts, consumer and trade magazines, packaging, point of sale promotion, newspaper and television advertising, posters, etc. While full copyright assignment is never an option, licences may be granted for "All media", "Worldwide" with a time period of "Unlimited".
The right to a credit is usually wavered for commissioned work.
For some commissions a rejection fee may be agreed prior to the shoot taking place. In such circumstances should the commissioner reject all images they will only be liable to pay this fee. Where no rejection clause exists the commissioner will be liable to pay the full photographer's and licence fee regardless of images used.
In certain circumstances commissioned work may be licensed for use 'Royalty Free'. In these circumstances only the photographer's fee will be payable and no additional fees will be required for publication of the images. There may be conditions attached to the 'Royalty Free' licence stipulating exceptions where royalties are payable.
Commissioned work is generally undertaken exclusively for the commissioning party. This is reflected in an exclusivity clause of the licence agreement for the images. This clause generally covers an additional period of 2 years following the expiry of the initial licence. Upon expiry of the initial exclusivity period, the commissioner is usually offered first option to extend the exclusivity clause at a negotiated rate.