Best Business Practices for Photographers [212]
PLUS truly is an effort that is long overdue. I remember, as a college student, reading literature about student housing that required all the electrical devices I was bringing in to be certified by Underwriters Labratories, designated by the sticker "UL listed." This was shorthand for, "This device has been certified to meet standards for fire safety…," and so on. In a doctor's office, when you get bloodwork done, the doctor simply checks a series of boxes that specify a known set of tests. The doctor does not need to give instructions on how to do the test; there is a standard. And, in the world of design and printing, there is the Pantone standard, so no one can argue over what color something is. Pantone set the standard for essentially every color imaginable, so when a client says, "My logo is Pantone 16-5804," everyone knows that the color is also Slate Gray. How would you describe Vibrant Green? Everyone has an opinion about that, but what shade, hue, and brightness? Pantone's answer? Pantone 16-6339. How about Fire-Engine Red? Well, using the Pantone Matching System (PMS), you might best identify that color as PMS 032, as differentiated from PMS 193, which is a different shade of red. The point here is that these numbers and letters specify an exact combination of all the colors in the spectrum, or a set of agreed-upon standards. To date, no universally accepted solution has existed for the licensing of photography, until PLUS came into being.
Thus, I will walk you through a variety of examples and language that you will encounter as you go about the business of licensing images.
Issues of Exclusivity
In many instances, clients will ask for—and in some cases require—exclusivity for the work you are producing for them on assignment. In addition, when licensing an image for stock, for the duration of the time the client is using the image for their own marketing efforts (during which time that image will become associated with their product or service), the client may want an exclusivity clause so that their competition will not be able to use the images. (In some cases, they will want no one at all to be able to use the images.)
These types of requests are reasonable, of course. A search for the term exclusivity in the PLUS glossary brings up:
Duration Exclusivity – Duration Exclusive
Definition: A right that, when granted, limits the rights of the licensor (and other parties offering licenses of the work) to further license or otherwise permit any third party to use the work during a specified time period.
Term In Use: "The client wants to purchase duration exclusivity for five months."
Exclusivity – Exclusive
Definition: Describes a right that, when granted by a licensor to a licensee, limits how the licensor (and other parties offering licenses of the work) May license rights in a work to a third party.
Additional Info: Exclusivity May be broad or specific. The rights grant May provide the licensee with exclusive rights to use a work singly or in any combination of: a specified media, industry, territory, language, time period, product, and any other specific right negotiated by the licensor and licensee.
Term In Use: "The advertising agency wants to license exclusivity for using the image in printed matter."
Geographic Exclusivity – Geographic Exclusive
Definition: Describes a right that, when granted to a licensee, limits how the licensor (and other parties offering licenses of the work) May license rights in a work to a third party for use in a specified region of the world.
Term In Use: "The client purchased geographic exclusivity for the image in Europe."
Industry Exclusivity