Please note that I am based and work in the UK, all UK laws apply and should there be any conflicts between the following and any applicable UK legislation then the UK Legislation will take precedence.
Copyright and Usage Agreements are always a hot topic in all forms of “content creation”
Copyright protects a creator’s work and stops others from using it without your permission. In the realm of the works that I produce, I am the creator and copyright holder and I would normally retain full copyright of any created works.
A Usage Agreement gives someone other than the copyright holder some level of permission to use the created works. If you purchase digital items from me then as the “Client” you would be given a Usage Agreement to use these works.
I always treat the created works with care and compassion, I never use any works for any intentionally defamatory or “adult” purposes, it’s simply not good business to put out images that might show clients in less than their best image. So any images or footage taken that simply isn’t good is not released.
I also do not sell or transfer any client images to stock photo websites unless they have been specifically produced with this intention.
However, as part of my own marketing, I will normally use the works created to promote myself to other prospective clients. This could be on one of my websites, social media, advertisements or competitions. Or in print form as examples or printed marketing material. For social media, you can choose whether or not to be tagged in any posts that’s entirely up to you and I do not tag any clients without express permission.
You, as my client, will be granted some form of usage license for the final works. This license will normally be non-exclusive (I as copyright holder can still use and assign usage of the works), non-assignable/transferrable (You as the client cannot transfer your usage to another party, this includes selling the work) and for a certain length of time.
For example, if you are looking for a headshot and use our standard licensing terms then you would be able to use your images in both digital and print media, for the purposes of self-promotion, in perpetuity (forever). You would not be able to sell these images, for example, to a magazine if they wanted to put you on the cover with that image. I would also be able to use your image for my own marketing purposes.
If you as the client wish to have exclusive use of the finished works then you can request “exclusive use”, by purchasing exclusive use you can use the images as per your agreement but I, as the copyright holder, cannot publish your work anywhere. Please note, however, that this does not automatically grant you full rights to sell and transfer the images to third parties, you would normally still have some limitations on your use of the final works.
Exclusive Use is more expensive than the standard usage, please contact me for a quote giving me as much information on your planned use of the images
The last option that I can offer is “Full Copyright Transfer”, where you as the client would also become the copyright holder of the finished works. Once you have taken delivery of the images I delete them from my system and I cannot use, or transfer the images to anyone, they become your works and you can do with them as you wish.
This is the most expensive option and you must contact me at the earliest opportunity to discuss this if required.
If you would like to discuss either an exclusive-use agreement or full copyright transfer please contact me before we make any agreement as there are additional costs involved for both these options. Please also note that it is nearly impossible to ask for exclusive use or copyright transfer after the delivery of media as once something is posted to the internet it is out there forever and cannot be fully recalled
Please do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions about copyright or usage, I am more than happy to discuss your specific needs.