When a business commissions commercial photography or video, it usually buys a license to use the work, not the copyright itself. The license spells out where the images and footage can appear, for how long, in which regions and whether anyone else can use them. Getting those terms right at the start keeps the quote accurate and avoids surprises when a campaign grows.
This article is general information to help you plan, not legal advice. For questions about a specific contract, talk with an attorney.
Why copyright stays with the creator
Under U.S. copyright law, the person who creates a photograph or video generally owns the copyright from the moment it’s made. The main exceptions are work made for hire (work an employee creates as part of the job, and certain commissioned work where both sides sign a written agreement saying so) and copyright transferred through a signed written assignment. The U.S. Copyright Office publishes plain-language guidance on both.
For commissioned commercial work, the norm is that the photographer or production company keeps the copyright and grants the client a license. This isn’t about holding back control. It lets the fee reflect the actual use: a local bakery’s website and a national billboard campaign carry very different value, and pricing them the same would be unfair to one side. A full copyright transfer is possible, but it’s priced as what it is.
What a license defines
A clear license answers four questions.
| Term | What it answers | Common examples |
|---|---|---|
| Media | Where the work can appear | Website, organic social, email, paid social, print ads, billboards, broadcast, packaging |
| Territory | Where it can be shown | United States, North America, worldwide |
| Term | How long it can be used | One year, two years, five years, unlimited |
| Exclusivity | Whether others can license it | Non-exclusive, exclusive, exclusive within your industry |
Most licenses also state how many final images or videos are covered, and what editing is allowed. Cropping, resizing and adding text for an ad are almost always fine. Altering a person’s appearance in ways they didn’t agree to is not.
Owned versus paid channels
The biggest driver of licensing cost is usually whether the work appears in channels you own or in media you pay to place it in.
- Owned channels: your website and product pages, organic social posts, email newsletters, blog, sales decks and internal presentations.
- Paid channels: social media ads, search and display ads, boosted creator posts, billboards and transit ads, magazine ads, and television or streaming commercials.
- Earned or editorial: press coverage and media kits, where a publication runs your images alongside a story about you.
Paid placement multiplies how many people see the work, and it’s where talent expects higher fees. A photo on your About page and the same photo running as a national paid social ad are, in licensing terms, two different uses. Video follows the same logic: a brand film on your homepage and a 15-second cutdown running as a pre-roll ad are licensed differently.
Buyouts, extensions and renewals
Buyout is one of the most misused words in commercial production. To some people it means unlimited use forever; to others it means all media for a fixed term. Whatever you call it, write down the actual media, territory and term. If you need broad rights, say so in the brief and we’ll quote them directly.
If a campaign performs well and you want to keep it running, you can usually extend the term or add media later. Extensions take less effort, and often cost less, when they’re planned up front rather than discovered after an ad is already live. Track license expiration dates alongside your media calendar, and remember that talent usage has its own term: renewing the image license doesn’t automatically renew the model’s.
Talent releases, music and AI training
Talent and property releases
Anyone recognizable in commercial work should sign a model release, and minors need a parent or guardian to sign for them. Recognizable private property, artwork and some locations may need a property release. The release is permission to use a person’s likeness; the license is permission to use the image.
Models and their agencies price by usage, just as photographers do. A rate for web and organic social may be modest, while national paid media, longer terms or category exclusivity cost more. Union talent working under SAG-AFTRA commercials contracts comes with its own usage rules and payments. That’s why a quote can’t be final until usage is known.
Music for video
Music in a commercial video needs its own license. Production music libraries license tracks per project or by subscription, often with different terms for organic and paid use. A well-known song needs permission from both the publisher, for the composition, and the record label, for the recording, which can be slow and expensive. Music built into social apps often comes with limits for business accounts and ads, so don’t assume a sound available in the app covers your campaign.
AI training and generative use
Licenses now need to address artificial intelligence. The questions are whether the images or footage may be used to train or fine-tune machine learning models, and whether they may be fed into generative tools to create new images or video. Our standard commercial terms don’t allow either without our written consent, and talent releases increasingly limit digital replicas of a person’s likeness. If your plans involve AI tools, raise it in the brief so the license and the releases can be written to match.
What to include in your brief
A good brief lets us quote the right license the first time. Include:
- Every place you expect the work to appear, including paid media and any plans to test ads.
- The regions where it will run.
- How long you plan to use it, including seasonal or recurring campaigns.
- Any need for exclusivity, and which competitors or categories matter.
- The number of final images and videos, with lengths and aspect ratios (for example 16:9 for the web and 9:16 for vertical social).
- Talent needs: how many people, the looks you want and whether they’ll appear in paid ads.
- Music expectations for video, and any music library account your team already has.
- Your launch date and any fixed deadlines.
Our image licensing policy explains how usage works with us, and the commercial services page covers how we plan and produce brand shoots.
Plan your next campaign
When you have a project in mind, send us your brief and we’ll return a written proposal with usage spelled out line by line.
