You may have paid for a set of professional project photos and still need to check what uses were agreed. UK copyright law generally protects photographs as artistic works, and the person who creates an image is usually its first copyright owner, subject to exceptions and contractual terms.
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) advises small businesses to check who owns an image and what permission has been granted before copying or sharing it online. A payment invoice alone may not explain whether you can crop, edit, advertise with or reuse the photos.
Put the licence in writing
When booking a photographer, agree how the images can be used. For example:
- Which website, social accounts and printed materials are covered?
- Can you use the photos in paid adverts?
- May you crop, add text or change the colour?
- How long and in which territories can you use them?
- Can you send the files to a marketing agency or another contractor?
- Does the photographer require a credit?
If you want ownership transferred rather than permission for specific uses, ask for the assignment to be recorded clearly in writing. Keep the agreement with the image files and tell anyone publishing the images what the licence allows.
Check images from other sources too
Do not assume that a photo is free to use because it appears in a search result, a supplier's brochure or another contractor's feed. A platform's share button is different from permission to download the image and reuse it in your own advert.
Also check the contract with the customer and the privacy of the home shown. Copyright permission from the photographer does not automatically give permission to publish a customer's identity or private space. Our job-photo privacy guide covers that separate issue.
Read the IPO's copyright notice on digital images and photographs. This is general information, not legal advice.