Photo Licence Fee Estimator — Rights-Managed Image Rates by Usage and Duration
Rights-managed picture pricing has no public rate card, which leaves both photographers and picture desks negotiating from memory. A defensible opening number matters more than a precise one, because the argument is usually about the shape of the licence rather than the figure.
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Copyright & Licence Fee Estimator
Estimate a rights-managed photo licence fee based on usage type, duration and outlet size.
Not legal advice — illustrative only. These figures are indicative estimates for negotiation purposes, informed by general NUJ and BAPLA (British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies) context. Actual rights-managed fees vary widely by photographer reputation, exclusivity, subject matter and negotiation. Always agree licence terms in writing before use.
Select all three options above to see an estimated fee range.
How it works
- Three dropdowns: outlet size (small local, regional, national daily, magazine, digital-only), usage type (online only, print only, print and online, syndication across multiple titles, or secondary and archival re-use), and licence duration (single use, one month, three months, twelve months, or perpetual).
- Each outlet size carries a base fee range for a single-use online-only licence — from £20–50 for a small local title to £150–400 for a national daily. That range is then multiplied by a usage factor and a duration factor.
- The multipliers are fixed: print 1.2, print plus online 1.6, syndication 2.5, secondary re-use 0.6; and one month 1.3, three months 1.7, twelve months 2.2, perpetual 3.5. So a perpetual syndication licence for a national is 8.75 times the single-use online base.
- It returns a per-image range with your three selections restated, plus an eight-point rights-clearance checklist: who owns copyright, exactly which rights are being licensed, territory, duration and renewal, the photographer credit required under CDPA 1988 s.77, model releases for identifiable people, written confirmation before publication, and agency terms.
- The figures are the tool’s own illustrative table, described on screen as informed by general NUJ and BAPLA context rather than taken from any published rate card.
When to use it
- As a photographer being asked to name a price for a use you have not licensed before.
- As a picture editor sanity-checking a quote that looks high or low for the usage being requested.
- When a publisher asks for a perpetual or worldwide licence and you need to show what that costs relative to single use.
- When negotiating a syndication deal across multiple titles in the same group.
- As a rights-clearance run-through before publishing an image whose provenance you have not personally checked.
What it does not do
- Not legal advice, and not a rate card. The base fees and multipliers are the tool’s own illustrative numbers, not derived from any published NUJ or BAPLA schedule, and they carry no authority in a negotiation beyond being a starting point.
- It has no territory input, even though its own checklist says territory can materially affect the fee. A UK-only licence and a worldwide licence return the same number.
- It cannot price the things that actually move rights-managed fees: exclusivity, embargo, the photographer’s standing, whether the image is unique or replaceable, and how newsworthy the subject is.
- It prices a licence. It does not tell you who owns the copyright, whether the person offering it has the right to, or whether the image was lawfully obtained — and a fee paid to the wrong party is not a licence.
- It says nothing about infringement damages, unauthorised past use, fair dealing for reporting current events, or moral rights beyond the credit reminder.
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This is one of the free tools on UK JournoHub. See the full tools index for the rest.