My standard rule: full rights of use - without ifs and buts
I'll make it easy for you. When you book a photo shoot with Schepers Photography, you receive full usage rights to all images supplied as standard - unlimited in time, geographically unlimited and for all your own media. You may use the images on your website, in image brochures, in social media posts, in press releases, in career advertisements, in annual reports and at trade fairs. You may also crop them in multiple versions, integrate them into layouts and incorporate them into your own designs.
This „full use“ is my standard - not an expensive additional option. I think a client should know what they are getting without having to fight their way through license clauses. You pay for the work we do on the day of the shoot and in post-production. What happens to the images afterwards should make your life easier, not harder.
The only exception: if we make another agreement in writing before the shoot, this applies. This happens very rarely - for example, in the case of very large advertising campaigns with multi-year posters or extremely sensitive image material. But for 99% of all orders, this is the standard rule: Full rights, without surcharge, without small print.
Copyright and rights of use - briefly explained
Under German law, the Copyright always with the photographer. This cannot be changed by law - copyright is personal and inalienable under German law. What can be assigned are the Rights of usepermission to use the images.
If I grant you full usage rights, this means that you can use the images as if they were your own. You can embed them on your website, print them in print material, share them on social media, pass them on to your PR agency, give them to employees for their LinkedIn profiles and produce them in unlimited quantities. There are No blocking period, no circulation limit and no range limit.
You don't have to ask me every time you want to put a picture somewhere new. If the picture is with you, it is with you.
Attribution - nice to have, but not a must
This is a question that makes many photographers' clients uncertain: Do I have to name the photographer as the author? According to German copyright law, the author is generally entitled to be named - but this right can be waived. And that's exactly what I do.
In my case, copyright attribution is not mandatory. If you use the image on your website, in a brochure or on social media and it doesn't fit into the layout to add a photo credit - no problem. You also don't have to tell me in every footer that the photo is from Schepers Photography.
My experience: If a picture is good, people ask who took it. This has worked for years - via customers, press representatives and applicants on career sites. I don't need a mandatory photo credit to get new jobs. I trust in the quality of my work.
Of course I am happy to be mentioned. If you would like to credit me with „Photo: Schepers Photography“ or „© Michael Schepers“, please feel free. But it's not obligatory. I won't sue you if you leave it out.
What about press releases, agencies and subsidiaries?
If you issue a press release and pass on the image of me to press representatives for free editorial use - that is allowed by default. You don't have to ask me.
If you commission a PR or advertising agency to work with your image material - This is also covered. The agency may use, layout and adapt your images and use them for your campaigns. As the client, you have full rights and can pass them on as you see fit.
Subsidiaries, sister companies, shareholdings of your company - all may also use the images, if they are part of your group or group of companies. In the case of very large groups with hundreds of holdings, we are happy to clarify this in advance in a discussion, but the basic principle is: everything that belongs to you can work with it.
What you should not do without consulting us
There are two points I would like to ask you about briefly - not because of license fees, but because of legal certainty:
1. resale to third parties: If you want to sell a photo to another company that has nothing to do with you (for example, a stock portal, a competitor or a customer of yours who wants to use it in their own image brochure) - this is not covered by the standard license. In this case, we will briefly clarify whether this is okay and how we can handle it fairly.
2. massive manipulation or AI composings: If an image is altered by generative AI to such an extent that the people depicted appear in a completely different context, you need the consent of the people, not mine. But please contact me briefly - it may be that the GDPR consents I obtained for the original shoot do not cover such use.
For classic image editing (cropping, brightness, color, background cropping, enlargement, reduction, compositing into your own layouts) everything is allowed. This falls under the normal freedom of use.
GDPR - it concerns everyone
Regardless of image rights: If on pictures Identifiable persons you need their consent. This is mandatory under the GDPR and independent of my license to you.
For employee shootings I will gladly provide you with a Standard template for GDPR-compliant consents. The employees sign on the day of the shoot (or before) so that everything is legally clean.
If employees later leave the company, you should remove their images on request. This is part of the GDPR obligations - not mine, but yours as an employer. I am happy to help by identifying or replacing individual images on request.
You can find out more about the preparation in the article Prepare employee photos.
Why I do it this way - my philosophy
In the first few years of my self-employment, I also worked with the classic license models: simple use, extended use, advertising use, exclusive use - each level with an additional charge. That was stressful for my customers and for me too.
At some point, I decided to turn it around: I will make you a fair, individual offer - and you will get everything in return. Period. This makes the business transparent, honest and long-term. My customers recommend me to others because they know that I don't throw in any nasty surprises. And that's exactly what I want.
So when you compare, pay attention not only to the offer itself, but also to what you get in terms of rights. For many colleagues, the „extended advertising use with worldwide reach“ is a three- or four-figure surcharge. For me, it's simply included.
Written form gladly - but not a must
If you need it officially, I will be happy to write down the rights of use in a short document - as an attachment to the digital invoice or as a separate declaration. Sometimes this is required by internal compliance or a larger company, sometimes a PR agency wants written confirmation.
Irrespective of this, the most important key data on the transferred rights of use are GoBD-compliant already in short form on every invoice documented - scope of services, intended use and reference to unlimited, unrestricted use. This means that the legal basis for your accounting and compliance can be traced at all times.
In standard cases, however, the scope of the license is already included in my offer or order confirmation. This gives you everything you need legally. In the event of an audit or a later inquiry: Schepers Photography's managing director is available and will provide assurances at any time - in writing, verbally or by e-mail.
Examples from practice
A SME client from the industrial sector has been using around 200 images from a single day shoot for 6 years. No license fee, no renegotiation. The images have appeared on the website, in the image brochure, on the careers page, in applicant folders and in four press releases. Everything covered.
A Hotel on the Palatinate Wine Route uses the same picture on the website, in the booking portal, in the local ad and in a magazine report. Nobody asked me for licenses because there are no additional ones. The hotel simply worked - and used the image where it made sense.
A BASF division used one of my reports and passed it on to international corporate communications. Pictures went into English, French and Spanish versions of internal magazines. Everything was okay - because the standard license covers international corporate use.
Questions about image rights? Please contact me
Do you have a special case - for example a TV advertisement, a poster campaign, a book publication or a major international trade fair? Talk to me briefly. In the vast majority of cases, this is included in the standard license. If not, we'll find a fair, one-off agreement.
What I don't do: Surprise you afterwards with license questions, issue warnings or threaten you with a lawyer. If something is unclear, we will clarify it beforehand by e-mail or telephone. That's my promise, and that's what I expect in return from a respectful business relationship.
Inquire now - Schepers Photography
Write me briefly about what you need. I will reply within one working day with a clear, individual offer and full rights of use - as is standard for me.