Copyright Notice
Copyright and image licensing in photography
No time to read all of this? Just read the next bit:
If you did not take the picture it is not yours to freely use.
I’d love you to use my images, all the images on this site were taken by me and I own the copyright. You need permission to use them - let’s talk first, nicking them isn’t cool.
Want to know more?
The person who created the image automatically owns the rights to it under law. If you want to use someone else's image you have to ask the owner for permission and pay for an appropriate licence. Most, if not all, photographers want to see their images being used and will be happy to discuss an appropriate fee for use of their work.
It's that simple. See a photo of mine you like? Want to use it? Ask me and we can come to an appropriate agreement and agree a price for that use.
Can't pay, won't pay?
My current rate for exclusive image usage (when I license an existing photograph) is £195. If you decide not to pay that fee and download a copy of the image from the internet, what happens next? As a guide, assuming it goes all the way to court, you will likely find yourself paying the base usage fee (£195) plus a 100% uplift for the infringement. There will another 100% claimed for infringing my moral rights and not crediting me. That's a new total of £585. Then there will be additional cost claimed for travel to and from court, photocopying all the documentation needed, postage, my time in court, interest for the amount of time the image has been used. For example, a photographer recently took an infringer to court for not paying their £300 licence fee. For a number of reasons the defendant ended up paying a total of £2716 which is quite a jump from the original £300. If only they'd asked and then paid for a licence!
Thinking of using the 'I thought images found on the internet were free' argument? Think again. There is case law -> http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/c...
Remember: If you did not take the picture, it's not yours to freely use.
Photographers don't bite.
Ask us and we'll be happy to help.
Useful copyright resources:
The UK Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988 can be found here -> https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/conte...
A short, easy to watch video primer on copyright law from the Intellectual Property Office: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de5R71fXq4Q&list=P...
Copyright made easy by the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/topic/intellectual-property/cop...
An article detailing how a company won in court: https://www.seymoursignandprint.co.uk/judgement-se...
All Images © Jonathan Bowcott. If you’d like to use/feature an image please click here