Copyright Vs Licensing

Some photographers find the concept of copyright and licensing a bit confusing.
This post is aimed at helping those who may be struggling with this area of the biz.

Copyright is about who owns the images.

Licensing is about who has the right to reproduce the images.

A license is normally compiled to fit a clients specific needs.
It sets out what type of publications or advertising the images can be used, under what circumstances, what regions/countries they can be used, the duration this agreement and the exclusivity of the images.

If the client finds they need to use the images in a way that’s not covered by the license or if they wish to continue using them after the license duration has expired, then they need to contact the copyright owner (usually the photographer) to negotiate further usage.

For example, if someone like Evanescence really likes one of the songs written by our friends Luminaire (above), then they will have to request a licence to perform their song at gigs or to record it themselves and include it in their next album.

The license fee will be determined, by how they use the song and if it’s on a CD then Luminaire get a percentage of the sale value of each album sold (because the numbers sold can’t be accurately predicted in advance).