Image rights and licences for promotional material: what every artist needs to know

A musician pays for a photography session. They receive the photos, put them on their website, send them to festivals and media. Years later, the photographer claims compensation for each use. The musician had no signed contract.

A common situation. And entirely avoidable.

Understanding the rights over your promotional material isn’t bureaucracy — it’s the difference between having tools you can use freely and having material that one day generates a legal dispute.

The starting point: who owns the copyright?

The copyright on any photograph belongs to the photographer, always. Not to whoever paid for the session, not to whoever appears in the photo, not to whoever provided the venue or the wardrobe. To the photographer.

This is international law: the Berne Convention (1886, ratified by 179 countries) establishes that copyright arises automatically at the moment of creation, with no registration requirement and no © symbol needed. In Spain this is covered by the Text Refós de la Llei de Propietat Intel·lectual (TRLPI), in France the Loi sur la propriété intellectuelle, in the UK the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, in the US the Copyright Act.

Paying for a photography session gives you access to the photos — not the rights to use them however you want. Those rights must be explicitly assigned, in writing.

What kind of licence you need and how to agree it

Photography credit: mandatory or optional?

The photographer’s credit ("© Photographer Name" or “Photo: Photographer Name”) is not morally optional, though the legal framework varies:

In most European countries (Spain included), the author’s moral right of attribution is inalienable — the photographer has the right to have their work attributed by name, regardless of what any contract says. In practice, many photographers don’t enforce it in informal editorial contexts, but they retain the right.

In the US the system differs: moral rights apply very restrictively (only to visual art works, not commercial photography in general). Here, the contract governs.

Practical rule: always include the photographer’s credit in the caption or metadata of any image you distribute. It’s professional, it’s correct, and it avoids problems.

Compensation: can it be zero?

Yes. A photographer can assign all usage rights with no additional financial compensation — if they agree and sign it. Many emerging photographers do this in exchange for visibility, prominent credit, or because the artistic project interests them.

But be careful: if you’re not paying, you can’t be demanding. Not about quality, not about delivery, not about meeting any minimum standard. Free photography arrives “as is”, from people who may be enthusiastic and eager — but often without the technical skill or editorial eye that makes the difference. From experience, hiring professionals for big concerts or key promotional sessions isn’t a cost: it’s an investment. And if you’re self-employed or running a business, it’s also tax-deductible.

But it must be in writing. A WhatsApp message saying “you can use them” isn’t enough if there’s a dispute later.

The document doesn’t need to be complex: a confirmed email already has legal validity in most European jurisdictions. Better a short contract, but at minimum an explicit email specifying:

• Which images
• For which uses
• In which territories
• For how long
• At what price (even if zero)

Key international differences

What images every artist needs and what licences must be clear

The case of texts: bio, press releases and copywriting

Copyright applies equally to written texts. If an agency or professional writes your bio or press releases, the copyright on the text belongs to whoever wrote it — unless the contract specifies otherwise.

In practice, when copywriting is commissioned for promotional material, an implicit licence for the intended use is generally understood. But “implicit” is not the same as “clear”. If the relationship becomes complicated, the absence of an explicit assignment can generate disputes.

What you should have in writing when commissioning promotional copy:

• Assignment of the economic rights in the text to the artist
• That the artist can freely modify, adapt and distribute the text
• Whether the writer wants credit or not (for bios and press releases, typically no)

Professional photography is not an expense — it’s an investment in credibility

Everything discussed above (assignments, licences, credits) assumes the material you’re distributing is worth distributing. And here there’s a common mistake worth naming directly.

A poor-quality photo — taken cheaply, shot on a phone in bad conditions, or offered for free with no professional intent — is not neutral. It communicates exactly the same thing as a musician showing up to an audition unprepared: that the project doesn’t take itself seriously.

A festival programmer or casting director forms a first impression of your profile in under thirty seconds. In that moment, the visual quality of your material is a proxy indicator of your professional quality. A poor photo doesn’t disqualify you for aesthetic reasons — it does so because it suggests you lack either the resources or the professional awareness to present yourself well.

What professional photography delivers:

• A well-lit, well-composed, technically correct photo is reusable for years across any format
• A professional photographer includes usage rights in the quote — this avoids future negotiations and legal disputes
• Quality visual material is what press and media actually publish without asking you to replace it

The photography session doesn’t need to be repeated every year: with one good session and the correct usage agreement, you have material for three or four years. The cost spreads out.

In summary: what to confirm before distributing any material

Before putting any photo or text in your EPK, on your website, or in any promotional material, confirm in writing that you have:

1. Who created the material (photographer, director, copywriter)
2. What licence they have given you (editorial, commercial, exclusive)
3. In which territories you can use it
4. For how long
5. Whether credit is required and how it should appear
6. Whether third parties (festivals, media) can use it, or whether every request has to go through you

You don’t need a twenty-page contract. You need a clear agreement, in writing, before you distribute.

If you need professional photography for your press materials, Pocallum is the studio specialising in photography for artists that Ressona works with: professional portraits, live photography, concerts, theatre productions, dance and circus performances. All sessions include editorial usage rights for professional use.

Ressona also handles the copy. If you need a bio, a press release or any promotional text written to professional standards — with usage rights correctly agreed from the start — that’s part of what we do.

And if you’re negotiating a contract with a photographer, video producer or copywriter and aren’t sure how to structure the rights agreement, we can advise you so the arrangement protects both your project and the professional you’re working with. Because if you want to be professional, act like one: pay and legally protect the people who make your materials possible.

Tell us about your project.