What is a licence? In simple terms, a licence is permission to do something which would otherwise be illegal to do. The permission can be either express or implied, oral or in writing. When licensing photographs, the CDPA 1988 grants the copyright owner the right to restrict the use of their works for the following uses:

• Reproduction – making copies by any means
• Derivation – making an adaption or new work based on the original photograph
• Distribution – issuing copies to the public i.e. publication; including to rent or lend the work to the public;
• Broadcasting the work to the public by including it in tv, cable, DVDs, video, and video games
• Communicating the work to the public by by means of electronic transmission such as on the internet or social media

Therefore when licensing photographs, limitations can be placed on the usage – for example how many copies of the image(s) can be made, no modifications to the image such as cropping to change the context, limits to territorial distribution e.g. world or country, no internet or social use, and so on.  Non-licensed rights can be reserved, and a licence can be either for exclusive or non-exclusive use, with time limits on the use of the the image(s). 

Infringement occurs when the licensee does not abide by the agreed terms of the license, or when the rights in copyright are performed without the copyright owner’s permission.