Usage fee

This fee, in addition to the production fee and expenses, is for the license to use the photograph(s) I create for you.

Per U.S. federal copyright laws, the images I create are copyrighted to me. As the creator of the images, I am also the owner of the images. Further explanation and examples here.

Licensing photo usage from Tim Boyd Photography is simple. General instructions can be found here. Generally, photos are licensed to the client as one-time, non-exclusive, North American rights. Other rights are licensed as needed by the client. Such rights are – or can be – quite involved with many combinations of rights granted.

The cost to license rights to use photos varies greatly depending on what rights are licensed to the client. The more exposure that the photograph receives, the higher the usage fee will be. Furthermore, how the image is intended to be used affects the cost. For example, editorial usage fees are less than corporate/industrial usage fees, which are less than promotional/advertising usage.

Communicating your photo needs is the best way to pay for only the usage fee you need. If you are only going to use the photo in the July

FEE


issue of a trade magazine with a circulation of 5,000 in New England, then you don’t need to purchase, for example, the rights for exclusive, all media, national or international rights for three years. That would be more expensive.

The size that the photograph is used is also a critical factor in the cost of the license. The smaller the photo is to be used, the less expensive the usage fee would be.

Factors which effect the cost of the usage fee include:

- The size the photo is used.
- The kind of use, e.g. editorial, corporate/ .....industrial or promotional/advertising.
- Where the photo is to be used – local, .....regional, national or international.
- The number of times the photo is copied .....for distribution (circulation size, print run or .....number of hits on a Web site).
- The length of time the photo is needed.
- Exclusivity – do you need to be the only .....one to use this photo in your magazine, .....company publication, advertising campaign.
- Location where the photo will be used– .....inside page, cover page, home page, .....banner, package, poster, billboard, etc.
- How the photo is to be used – color or .....black and white.