PHOTOGRAPHIC LICENSING EXPLAINED
What is a License?
As photographers, we own the rights to our images. We can decide to license specific usage rights to a client that wants to use our photographs through a contract. The license allows the client to use images within the scope of the usage photography license agreement only.
Pricing
Image licensing is one way to earn money as a photographer. What we do here is that we sell someone permission to use our work in a certain way in return for some monetary benefits. More rights the client wants, the more it would cost them. It also depends on the type of client who is seeking rights. If the client has a more extensive reach, then we can charge more.
Since there are multiple factors such as the type of client, images, location, duration, etc. are involved, it is not possible to have a standard price set which everyone can use. We have researched exhaustively in the local area to ensure that our prices are a reflective value of the current market, our time and the quality of our work.
Different types of licensing can be broken into the following categories:
Commercial Rights
Commercial rights enable the buyer to use our images for commercial purposes in communications designed to sell their products or services such as a catalogue, brochure, or on some other form of advertisement.
Non-Commercial Rights
Things like personal websites, blogs, school newsletters, and other media where our image will not be explicitly used as a part of a for-profit/money-making activity come under Non-Commercial rights.
Exclusive Rights
Also known as Serial Rights, this is when we grant proprietary permission to use a specific image to a client. We may or may not want to do this since “exclusive” means we will not be able to resell that image to any other at a later time. The price charged for such a license will reflect this exclusivity.
First Rights
First rights constitute the permission to use the image first off, and then you are free to resell your image at a later time. This image license typically applies to publications, newspapers, and magazines. When we sell photos to magazines, we will consider granting them first rights. This type of photography license will give you the maximum flexibility once the publication has used your photograph.
Non-Exclusive Rights
Non-exclusive rights mean that we can sell our images to more than one person or entity. We may Include a clause wherein our client cannot further resell your images and make sure they understand the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive rights, so as not to make the wrong photo licensing agreement.
One Time Use
This photography licensing contract lets us sell the right to use our image one time only, for one specific purpose to a client.
Rights Managed
“Rights managed” is a little more complicated but is probably the most common way to license an image. Most image licensing websites use this model, wherein images have particular restrictions on use and different fees associated with each use. Rights Managed Images enable both the photographer and the client to arrive at the best fit of usage and exclusivity and do a photography license agreement based on the same. Here the client can use for additional purposes but mention it in the contract. If not, then they have to negotiate with the photographer for the same.
Royalty Free
In Rights Managed, a client has to pay the agreed license fee on the expiry of the license if they want it to be renewed. But in Royalty Free license, the client can use the image for any amount of time-based on the single initial fee. So, if a client wants to use our image on a product 10 million times, he would have to pay a one-time fee to do that. Although there are some restrictions on the usage, overall, the buyer gets almost unlimited usage right from this photography license.
Copyright Free License
A copyright-free license is one type of photography license where the we can give away the copyright of the image for free. We may do so to get publicity from the image. The licensee receives high-quality work which can be used commercially as well after modifications. The images under the copyright free license are entirely free.
