Image licensing

Before an explanation about licensing, I want to start with a short sentence or two about Copyright and Intellectual Property (IP). They set the context for what follows and go a long way to explaining why licensing exists.

Below are three quotes from the UK Intellectual Property office:

Licenses are granted by an authority to allow a usage; in my case, the use and distribution of resources by the copyright owner (i.e. me). I may decide to offer my photograph for free or charge a price; either way, I can include a license to limit usage, and I maintain the copyright. Just because someone pays money doesn’t mean they have full control or rights to what they’re buying. Licenses can dictate the number or uses, the bounds of use and even the length of time until the license expires.

In photography, it can be argued that there are two dominant models of image licensing.

1. Royalty free and

2. Rights managed.

Analogically,

You are going for an important meeting. You don’t want to drive and are presented with two options as to how you might arrive at said meeting; 1. A bus or 2. A chauffeur driven car.

Option number one, the bus, is cheaper. This is attractive initially yet it has many setbacks. It isn’t personal, you don’t know who you’ll be sitting next to, it may not give off the right image when you arrive at your destination and, of course, it might not take you to your exact destination. In short it isn’t tailor made for you.

All of the above points could be leveled at the Royalty Free model also mentioned above. It is cheap. But, like the bus, you don’t know who you’ll be sharing the image with.

In short the bus/royalty free model isn’t made specifically for you. Neither will it provide you with a unique opportunity to strengthen your reputation through strong, distinctive, tailor made marketing/images/advertising.

Option two is the chauffeur driven car. This, obviously, initially seems more expensive. However, it provides you with a much better service. You can request a door to door pick up and drop off at a time convenient to you. You have the car all to yourself. You arrive relaxed, stress free and promoting a more professional image. The whole experience is tailor made for you.

The same can be said when commissioning a photographer to make and license an image. You get a tailor made image, unique to you and your business and you only pay for what you need.

Advantages of Licensing Images:

Perhaps summed up even more concisely:

Licensing an image means you only pay for what you need.

Most importantly, a photographer's fee is usually for their time, their professional experience, their knowledge, their equipment, their overheads and all the necessary insurances.

The license covers what, where and how the image will be used.

At RDM, we render a stock service called RDM Stock.

“Spotting a gap in the African market, RDM Stock was created in 2015, with a mission to be the number one online platform in the world, for truly African stock content.

RDM Stock aims to be; Africa’s largest stock photography community, and the one-stop shop for all African stock creative and editorial content, specializing in photos, footage, audio and illustrations.”

RDM Stock is really big on image licensing and copyrights.

More can be seen on www.rdmstock.com