At first the prospect of hiring professional models will seem daunting. So many people cut their teeth by shooting the people around them. Their wife or girlfriend, their kids, their parents etc. The added bonus being that they are always going to sign a model release aren’t they? ;)

Just do a search at the many stock libraries around on the net and you’ll see them a mile off.

Nothing wrong with that at all. But in their eagerness to make sales many fledgling shooters are unaware what their images may be used for. Its not all honey and roses out there in the world of publishing and advertising but there is a way to ensure that your loved ones don’t end up advertising something you’d rather not see..

The Sensitive Issues restriction

Over and above any defamatory uses of your images which would be upheld by law, many people are unaware that their images could be legitimately used in various industry sectors which they may find offensive. Such industries as:

• Tobacco advertising
• Alcohol advertising
• Datelines
• Chatlines
• Sexual products and manuals

Lets face it. These industries advertise and need model released imagery as much as the next image buyer. They also buy stock. Next image bought could be yours.

Its only a matter of time before somebody spots a shot of their teenage daughter smiling on the beach advertising on a tampon or cigarettes in (insert country where you can show tobacco advertising in the media) or their teenage son on a new range of condoms. Its going to happen eventually.

Worse still, is that if the image is model released and royalty free there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it.

If its not defamatory use (implied drug abuse, alcohol abuse or anything likely to be unflattering to the model depicted) its fair game.

So if its a shot of your daughter smiling at the camera and its used in such a way that it does not imply association with…. its fair game.

Even worse than worse still is if you sold that image of your loved one on a microstock site for a measly $1.

Think about it for a second. It might be a long shot but do you want to take that chance?
So many people are quick to shoot but don’t realise the ramifications of unlimited use royalty free images with their unrestricted nature. Especially the beginners who often cut their teeth on microstock sites.

So can anything be done? What are my options?

• Yes. License your people images as rights managed. Not only could a model released rights managed people shot pull in a large licence fee but like any rights managed image, you can add restrictions for sensitive issues use!

Back to Alamy again and a shot of the add restrictions dialogue in the edit image screen:

I’ve set this to restrict all sensitive uses – click to see the detail

And that’s all there is to it. Your image is now restricted from use by those industries which may cause embarrassment.

PP

If you found this article helpful you may also like to read:

• Stock Photography: Adding exclusive usage restrictions to your RM or RP images (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Protected or Exclusive image licences (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Managed image licences (0)
• Stock Photography: Can you sell an image as RF and RM at the same time? (3)
• Selling on Alamy: Royalty Free or Licenced? (5)

Hang on…. why would anyone want to restrict the saleability of their images? Isn’t that nuts? Are you insane PP?

There are some very good reasons why you may need to restrict sales. Lets take a look at one of them:

The rights protected or exclusivity restriction

Let’s assume you have a rights managed image that you have placed with three non-exclusive** stock photo libraries. You have indicated that you are happy to sell exclusivity on the image if a buyer requests it and each library offers its customers exclusivity (some don’t).

**non-exclusive in this sense means a library that does not demand exclusive sale rights for your image so you are free to place them elsewhere on other libraries

One day you are checking the sales notifications of one of your libraries and hey presto, one of them posts a rights protected exclusive sale:

Here are the details:

Country: Germany
Usage: Advertising/Promotion
Media: Consumer Magazine – Advertising
Industry: Leisure/Entertainment/Sport
Sub-Industry: Gaming and Gambling
Print run: up to 25,000
Image Size: 1 page
Start: 09 November 2006
End: 09 February 2007

The library has indicated that the buyer has bought exclusivity in their industry sector for consumer magazine – advertising for the duration of the licence.

Great news on the RP sale. But why does that affect me?

• If you have sold exclusivity then you can’t sell the same rights to another client else there would not be exclusivity!

So what do I have to do?

• You’ll need to add restrictions to the image you sold exclusive rights for on all your other libraries that are selling that image (whether they offer rights protection or not). This will ensure your buyer gets the exclusivity they have paid for.

Most online libraries dealing with rights managed images will have a part of their administration screen where you can add restrictions to cover the exclusive rights and lock out other buyers.

In our case above we sold exclusive rights for:

Advertising use in the Leisure Entertainment and Sport industry in German consumer magazines for 3 months

For example: On Alamy you can add the restrictions via a series of drop down menus on the edit image screen here:

I have filled in the boxes to reflect the exclusivity we sold on our licenced sale - click to see detail

Notice there is no time period to select. You will need to keep a note of the time the exclusivity expires so you can go and lift the restrictions using the same screen.

**You’ll need to do this if you sell exclusive rights via your own website direct to a buyer too. Any time you sell exclusivity on a rights managed image you must add restrictions wherever the same image is for sale to prevent other buyers from using the image for the type, industry and period of the restriction**

Next post will deal with Sensitive uses restrictions.

PP

If you found this article helpful you may also like to read:

• Stock Photography: Adding Sensitive Issues restrictions to your RM or RP images (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Protected or Exclusive image licences (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Managed image licences (0)
• Stock Photography: Can you sell an image as RF and RM at the same time? (3)
• Selling on Alamy: Royalty Free or Licenced? (5)

If you are not sure what a photography licence is then I suggest you read this post here and then return to this page.

What do you mean by exclusivity?

Exclusivity means the ability to buy an image that gives you exclusive or sole use for either the:

1. media type (what media will your image be used in – print, web, press ads, point of sale, billboards)
2. territory (where will your image be seen – Region/State only, Country only, Continent, Worldwide)
3. duration of license (how long will your image be used for – 3 months, 1 year, 2 years)

or a combination of all three.

The price of the licence will vary depending on the exclusivity areas required and prices are normally 25% or so higher to gain exclusive use than the equivalent cost of the image if bought under a standard rights managed licence.

Why would a buyer want exclusivity of an image?

Many image buyers now are turning to stock instead of commissioning work to be shot by a photographer. Sad but true. There is more visual media now available to buyers than any time before. Buyers spending big money on an advertising campaign which may include press ads, tv ads, posters, billboards etc. want reassurance that the image they are buying won’t suddenly pop up on a competitors website or ad. This has happened more than once, especially with royalty free images where usage is not controlled.

As they are buying stock and not commissioning photography, exclusivity is not guaranteed (it normally is with commissioned photography) so a rights protected or exclusive license gives the image buyer peace of mind that they have sole use of the image for the duration, media, or territory of their campaign (or all three!).

But what if I have images in several stock libraries, can I still sell exclusivity?

• Yes. But you must have really tight control over your stock portfolio and be able to add usage restrictions to your RM images immediately. I’ll write another post with examples about adding usage restrictions because its really important if you are offering exclusivity.

Is this the same as having an image of mine exclusively with one library only?

• No. Some libraries like Getty Images want you to only place your images with them. This means the library has exclusive sale rights. It’s not the same as selling exclusive rights to an image buyer.

If I offer my images as rights protected or exclusive can they still be sold as regular rights managed?

• Yes. Rights protection is an additional benefit that the buyer may wish to purchase. It won’t stop your image being sold as regular RM if the image buyer does not need exclusive use of your image.

Can a royalty free image be sold as exclusive?

• No. Exclusivity can only be granted to rights managed images because only rights managed images are sold with a manageable usage history.

I hope that helped you understand the concept of rights protection and exclusivity in image licencing.

PP

If you found this article helpful you may also like to read:

• Stock Photography: Adding exclusive usage restrictions to your RM or RP images (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Managed image licences (0)
• Stock Photography: Adding Sensitive Issues restrictions to your RM or RP images (0)
• Understanding licensing types: Royalty Free image licences (1)
• Understanding licensing types: Rights Ready Image licences (0)