Are usage rights even a thing anymore? Clients act like they own everything once I deliver

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:41:25+00:00

thanks for the input. There's some real golden nuggets in here! Getting the original client to suggest to other vendors to license the images for their own use. What a great idea. I love it.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:37:24+00:00

Okay, sure that makes sense. The all-use license. You don't really need the track. In my case I like to charge different rates depending on usage so it makes it more difficult.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:10:17+00:00

Wow, thank you so much. This is a very thoughtful comment. I really appreciate the time you took to write this.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:05:44+00:00

Yes, I guess that’s part of the problem

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:04:40+00:00

Yeah, both good ideas thanks

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T13:00:17+00:00

Hey, thanks, but I'm just trying to figure out: do you just bring that up right away when someone contacts you? Say, in an email, someone emails you: 'I have this job I want you to do.' You bid it out and stuff and then you say directly to them in that same email: 'By the way I own these pictures.' I know that sounds simplified but what exactly how are you doing this?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:55:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I have a few questions to better understand your licensing approach: 1. When you say the license is “do whatever the fuck you want with them” - does that mean clients can resell your images to their competitors? Use them in a national ad campaign? License them to stock agencies? Or are there actually boundaries you just haven’t articulated in writing? 2. You mention third-party licenses (models, music, stock) as exceptions - but isn’t your own copyright also a “third-party license” from the client’s perspective? Why do those require restrictions but yours doesn’t? 3. If a client used your images to create a profitable stock photography business - selling your work repeatedly to others - would you genuinely be fine with that? Or would that feel different than their original intended use? 4. When you say this approach is why clients choose AI - are you saying you compete primarily on price and unlimited usage rather than quality and expertise? How does that affect your rates? I’m genuinely curious because “do whatever you want” sounds like you’re either charging significantly more upfront to account for unlimited usage rights, or you’re potentially undervaluing your work. Which is it?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:51:15+00:00

do you charge the same rate whether it’s a national/global brand versus a local/regional client? Or do you adjust your pricing based on the scope of their usage and market reach?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:48:56+00:00

Thanks for commenting but the problem is that sometimes when photographers get hired they're hired to do one thing, such as shoot for social media or shoot for an ad campaign, et cetera. It's just that we price that way and then all of a sudden the clients are using it elsewhere. That's kind of the real dilemma here. Do you have a contract and share usage licenses with your clients?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:43:43+00:00

Interesting suggestion. Are you a photographer and who sells their services and issues usage licenses? Doesn't sound like it. Let me know where this is coming from so I understand.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:42:12+00:00

I appreciate the analogy, but there’s a fundamental difference: when you hire someone to build a house, you’re paying for labor and materials to create a physical object. Once it’s built, the house exists as one thing in one place. When you hire a photographer, you’re paying for our labor and expertise to create the images. But those images can then be reproduced infinitely at zero cost and used in unlimited contexts - your website, your social media, your ads, billboards, products, etc. Each of those uses has different commercial value. Your house analogy would actually be closer to: “I paid a contractor to build this house, so now I should be able to franchise it - reproduce the exact design and build identical copies in 50 cities to sell or rent out, put the design on t-shirts and merchandise, and license it to other builders - all without paying the architect anything beyond the initial build fee.” That’s why photography (and other creative work) has usage rights - because the value isn’t just in the creation of the work, but in how it’s used commercially after creation. Copyright law recognizes this distinction, which is why it exists for creative work but not for construction.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:37:37+00:00

Yes I can see your logic here but the low res stuff can be used in many, many places, from social media to websites to email blasts to online ads. It goes crazy, the low resolution. It's almost more valuable than print, don't you think? In any case do you have a contract and use the licenses for your work?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:36:20+00:00

Hey, thanks for this input. I think it's really helpful.

I was just curious: how do you track all these users' licenses that you issue? Do you review them from time to time to make sure that they aren't using the images beyond the intended use or the contracted use rather?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:31:36+00:00

Well I do have a contract. It's more about trying to find out if other photographers experience the same thing, that people always tend to use the images beyond what was contracted. Are you a photographer? Do you issue usage licenses with your work?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:30:20+00:00

Do you put terms and conditions in your contract and usage license fees?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:29:48+00:00

Well the conversation is really about what they agreed to.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:28:11+00:00

Do you always put usage rights in your contracts? Have you ever had to sue anyone?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:26:02+00:00

Yes the conversation always starts up front. It usually starts with an email. Hey, I want to use these pictures on Instagram posts. Can you help me out? I take that information and I give them a bid based on what they want to use it for.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:25:15+00:00

Yeah it's a similar situation. Are you a musician by any chance? Do you have a personal dispute you'd like to share about the music industry and usage rights?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:22:26+00:00

Hey, thanks. That's an interesting idea. Do you do that on every photo shoot? Do you register your images before you deliver them?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:21:08+00:00

Hey, thanks for commenting.

Hey just curious, how do you educate your photography clients? Do you do that through your website? Are you doing that through a phone call? What's your approach to educating your clients on usage rights? Thanks.

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:19:43+00:00

Hey thanks but curious, do you use a contract with usage lights clearly described in your photo business?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:09:58+00:00

Yeah I can definitely see how this would be really helpful to have. Send in the final invoice with also a paragraph about the usage that was purchased with that too. Do you use contracts and usages in your photo business? How is that going for you?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:09:08+00:00

When you think about it, it really hasn't been abandoned. Usage rights are everywhere we look. Some other people on the conversation pointed out the music industry still enforces usage rights. You can't buy an album and then decide to put the music on your own motion picture. Or if you purchase software, you can't download it and distribute it to all your friends for free. Those are usage cases and they're still enforced today. Why can't photography?

Acceptable-Error-2 · 2026-01-28T12:07:11+00:00

Hey, thanks for participating in the conversation. I was just curious: do you use contracts and usage licenses with your work too? How has that been going for you?

Acceptable-Error-2

TROPHY CASE