• Licence to use and reproduce

Successful negotiation is not possible unless clients understand what is actually being bought and sold. This is not only time and the photographs themselves. As the authors of their work, photographers own the copyright in it, and issue licences to clients to reproduce them as mutually agreed.

The photographer and clients come to an agreed figure at the time of commissioning, or buying in stock material.

In the United Kingdom, as in most other countries, virtually all creative works – whether literary, photographic, illustrative, filmed or computer-generated – are protected by copyright. The period of copyright generally lasts until 70 years after the death of the author or creator of the material. There is no need to register copyright. Copyright ownership may be indicated under international conventions by the C-in-a-circle symbol © followed by the name of the copyright holder and the date of first publication. The copyright owner is entitled to sell licences for a wide variety of uses.

Whether commissioned or stock, generally most rates paid are for one use only (repro fees) or immediate use (commissioned photographs). Therefore, please bear in mind when making contact to request photographs, it is possible that a licence to reproduce must be negotiated, depending on the additional rights sought.

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• Search fees

When a client wants pictures dug out of the depths of a photo archive, for example, the photographer needs to charge for the time spent finding them. Annalisa normally waives this charge unless the search requires significant work.

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• Definitions (for guidance only) 

The listing overleaf is comprehensive but by no means exhaustive

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Serial rights a licence to publish in a ‘serial’ publication - a newspaper, journal or magazine.

First British serial right a licence to publish for the first time in any British serial publication.

First EU serial right a licence to publish for the first time in any European Union serial publication.

First US serial rights a licence to publish for the first time in any United States serial publication.

First World serial rights a licence to publish for the first time in any serial publication in the world.

Second serial rights a licence to publish in a serial publication for the second time in a defined area.

Syndication right a licence to re-sell copyright material in a defined area on behalf of the copyright owner. Income from syndication is conventionally split between the parties, with the author receiving at least 50 per cent of the gross income.

Electronic archive right (as part of original publication) a licence to store material electronically for publisher’s reference and archival purposes only, not including copyright or further publication without the author’s permission. 

Electronic publication rights a licence to publish in electronic form, this can include or comprise publication (eg as part of a commercial database) on floppy disc and/or CD-ROM (either as a ‘serial’ or one-off), or on the Internet or an Intranet. Except for Internet and Intranet use, any licence may be restricted to a defined geographical area.

Internet publication right a licence to publish electronically on the Internet or World-Wide Web (WWW); this is always a world right.

Intranet publication rights a licence to publish on an electronic computer- linked system analogous to the Internet but confined to a single company or other defined group.

Book right a licence to publish in a (non-serial) book; this may be limited to a defined area, duration and language.

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Full copyright (‘All rights’) All media worldwide in perpetuity. IT SHOULD NEITHER BE SOUGHT NOR OFFERED.

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Moral rights the rights of an author or creator to protect his or her reputation. They include the right to be identified as author, the right not to be falsely identified as author, and the right not to have material altered in a way derogatory to the reputation of the author.