In a world where images circulate rapidly on ever-evolving platforms, copyright issues are crucial for photographers. But how can one protect ones works? How can rights be enforced? And what exactly are those rights? On the occasion of the autumn payment campaign for rights to member artists by ADAGP, let’s take a look at photographers’ rights and how to ensure fair compensation for their work.
Moral and Economic Rights: The Pillars of Photographers’ Protections
Often overlooked but essential to the profession, photographers’ copyrights are built on two main pillars: moral rights and economic rights. These ensure both the protection of the integrity of their works and the ability to control their use while receiving appropriate compensation.
Every photographer is first and foremost granted inalienable moral rights that cannot be sold or transferred. These rights protect their images and preserve the unbreakable link with their creator. Among these are:
- The right to integrity, which allows photographers to oppose any modification, distortion, or alteration of a photograph that could misrepresent it.
- The right to attribution, which ensures that their name is always associated with their image whenever it is used.
Economic Rights: The Foundation of Fair Compensation
Economic rights are fundamental to the photographer’s earnings, as they grant control over the reproduction and distribution of their images. These include:
- Reproduction rights, which apply to physical uses of the photograph (books, newspapers, postcards, etc.).
- Representation rights, governing the public communication of the work, whether directly or indirectly, such as through websites or exhibitions.
- Resale rights, entitling the creator to a percentage of the sale price whenever their work is resold through a professional art dealer.
- Collective rights, which encompass uses where individual management isn’t feasible, such as reprography (photocopying), library lending, cable or satellite retransmissions, and private copying (e.g., photos of artworks taken by the public during exhibitions).
Economic rights can be licensed to third parties, often within specified limits regarding time, location, and usage. These licenses form the basis of negotiation. As Stéphanie de Roquefeuil from the Union of Professional Photographers (UPP) points out: “For most photographers, licensing their rights is the main source of income. […] It’s common for publishers to claim you should waive your rights because it will give you ‘visibility.’ You must reject this argument outright. Stand your ground. Your work has value.”
Ensuring Rights Are Respected: Collective Management
Managing the use of their works and the associated rights is essential for photographers to earn revenue for the use of their images. This is where Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) like the ADAGP come into play, acting as intermediaries that pool rights management and monitor the use of photographs.
By joining ADAGP and registering their publications, photographers ensure that every usage of their images—including international ones—is accounted for and remunerated. As of May 31, 2024, ADAGP had established agreements with 332 cultural institutions, 88 press outlets, and nearly 300 TV broadcasters in France and worldwide, thanks to a network of 55 authors’ societies abroad.
Through ADAGP, photographers can collect remuneration for collective rights such as reprography, library lending, television retransmissions, private copying, and educational uses.
Membership in ADAGP (via a one-time share purchase of €15.24) allows photographers to delegate the management of their economic rights entirely or partially and give them access to legal advice, grants, residencies, and training workshops.
Understanding and managing copyrights is vital for photographers to protect their works and ensure fair compensation. In an era of exponential image sharing, organizations like ADAGP provide valuable support and security to navigate the complexities of copyright and licensing.
More information:
The ADAGP
