Terms and Conditions of Commissioning and Image Licensing

Claire Fear | clairefear.com

These Terms and Conditions are issued by Claire Fear, trading through clairefear.com (the Photographer).

1. Application and contract formation

1.1 These terms apply to commissions for photography and, where expressly agreed, film or other visual work, and to the licensing of existing images.

1.2 The quotation, proposal, commission brief, licence schedule or invoice issued for a particular project forms part of the agreement. If there is any conflict, the project-specific written document takes priority over these general terms.

1.3 A contract is formed when the Client accepts a quotation or proposal in writing, signs an agreement, pays a deposit, confirms a booking, or instructs the Photographer to begin work.

1.4 The Client is the person or organisation named in the quotation or invoice. If the Client acts for another person or organisation, the Client confirms that it has authority to enter into the agreement on their behalf.

1.5 No change to the agreed scope, fee, timetable or licence is binding unless confirmed in writing.

2. Definitions

2.1 Images means photographs, digital files, prints, contact sheets, film, video, scans, artwork or other visual material created or supplied by the Photographer.

2.2 Commission means the services and deliverables described in the accepted quotation, proposal or brief.

2.3 Licence means the permission granted to the Client to use specified Images for specified purposes. Copyright is not transferred unless an assignment is expressly agreed in a separate signed document.

2.4 Business Day means Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England.

3. Scope, brief and changes

3.1 The Client must provide a clear written brief, including intended uses, required views or subjects, key dates, access arrangements and any technical or brand requirements.

3.2 The Photographer will exercise professional and creative judgement in interpreting the brief, including decisions about viewpoint, composition, lighting, timing, selection and editing.

3.3 Additional attendance, reshoots, extensive retouching, altered deliverables, accelerated delivery or use beyond the agreed Licence may be charged separately.

3.4 Where the Client changes the brief after work has begun, the Photographer may revise the fee and programme before carrying out the additional work.

4. Fees, expenses and VAT

4.1 Fees are those stated in the accepted quotation or proposal.

4.2 Unless stated otherwise, reasonable travel, accommodation, parking, permits, assistants, specialist equipment, couriers, production expenses and third-party costs are additional and will be charged to the Client.

4.3 Estimates of expenses are given in good faith but may change where actual costs differ.

4.4 VAT will be added where legally applicable.

4.5 The Photographer may require a deposit or advance payment. A booking is not secured until any requested payment has cleared.

5. Booking, cancellation and postponement

5.1 Once a date is confirmed, the Photographer may decline other work for that period.

5.2 If the Client cancels or postpones a confirmed booking, the following fee may be charged, calculated against the booked creative fee:

fewer than 10 Business Days before the booking: 20%;
fewer than 5 Business Days before the booking: 50%;
fewer than 48 hours before the booking: 100%.

5.3 In every case, the Client must also reimburse non-refundable expenses and costs already incurred.

5.4 A postponement is treated as a cancellation unless the Photographer agrees otherwise in writing. Where a new date is agreed promptly, the Photographer may credit part of the cancellation fee against the rescheduled Commission.

5.5 If weather, unsafe conditions, access restrictions, illness, equipment failure or another circumstance beyond reasonable control prevents the Commission from proceeding, the parties will seek to reschedule. The Photographer is not responsible for consequential losses arising from such delay.

5.6 Where aerial or drone photography is included, all work remains subject to weather, airspace restrictions, site permissions, public safety and the Photographer's lawful and safe operating judgement.

6. Client responsibilities, access and safety

6.1 The Client must provide timely access to the site, subjects and relevant areas, together with a safe working environment.

6.2 The Client is responsible for obtaining location, property, landlord, venue, security and site permissions, unless the quotation states that the Photographer will obtain a particular permission.

6.3 The Client must tell the Photographer in advance about hazards, restricted areas, safeguarding requirements, security procedures, confidential information and any site rules.

6.4 The Photographer may stop or refuse work that would be unlawful, unsafe, unethical or inconsistent with agreed safeguarding arrangements. Time lost for these reasons may remain chargeable.

7. Selection, editing and delivery

7.1 The Photographer will select and edit the Images that, in her professional judgement, best satisfy the brief. Unselected frames and outtakes are not part of the deliverables.

7.2 Delivery format, approximate quantity and timescale will be stated in the quotation or proposal. Any quantity is an estimate unless expressly guaranteed.

7.3 Standard editing includes the Photographer's normal tonal, colour and perspective adjustments. Complex retouching, compositing, object removal or extensive image manipulation is additional unless expressly included.

7.4 The Client must download and securely store delivered files within the stated availability period. Online galleries or transfer links may be removed after three months.

7.5 Colour and tonal appearance can vary between screens, browsers, printers and papers. The Photographer is not responsible for reproduction outside her control.

8. Copyright, ownership and moral rights

8.1 Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the Images remain with Claire Fear throughout the world, unless a separate written assignment is signed by both parties.

8.2 Physical or digital delivery of Images does not transfer copyright, ownership of master files or any right beyond the agreed Licence.

8.3 Claire Fear asserts her moral right to be identified as author of the Images under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

8.4 RAW files, unedited files, working files, project files and video rushes are not supplied unless expressly agreed in writing and separately priced.

9. Licence to use the Images

9.1 The Licence is the licence described in the quotation, proposal, licence schedule or invoice.

9.2 Unless the project-specific document states otherwise, the standard Licence is non-exclusive, worldwide and perpetual for the Client's own communications connected with the named project, including its website, organic social media, press and public relations, award submissions, internal presentations, reports, funding or planning documents and project exhibitions.

9.3 The standard Licence does not include paid advertising, product packaging, merchandise, resale, stock-library use, commercial sponsorship, onward licensing, use by an unrelated legal entity, use to train or evaluate artificial-intelligence systems, or creation of synthetic or materially altered derivative images.

9.4 The Licence becomes effective when all invoices relating to the Commission and Licence have been paid in full. Any permission for earlier use is provisional and may be withdrawn if payment becomes overdue.

9.5 Use outside the Licence requires prior written agreement and may attract an additional fee.

9.6 The Licence is personal to the Client and may not be assigned, sold or sublicensed except as expressly permitted below.

10. Project team, press and third-party distribution

10.1 Where the standard Licence applies, the Client may provide Images to its appointed project consultants, contractors, funders, award bodies and bona fide press outlets solely for editorial or promotional communication about the named project.

10.2 The Client must tell recipients that copyright remains with Claire Fear, provide the required credit, and ensure that the Images are not used for unrelated advertising, resale or onward licensing.

10.3 Separate commercial use by a contractor, manufacturer, supplier, developer, agent or other organisation requires a separate Licence unless expressly included.

10.4 The Photographer may refuse a proposed use that is misleading, unlawful, defamatory, harmful to a subject, inconsistent with safeguarding, or materially different from the agreed context.

11. Alteration and integrity of Images

11.1 Reasonable cropping, sizing and conversion necessary for the permitted publication are allowed, provided the character and meaning of the Image are not materially changed.

11.2 The Client must not apply filters, substantial retouching, compositing, generative fill, AI alteration, removal of authorship information or other material changes without written approval.

11.3 Images must not be used in a misleading, defamatory, unlawful or discriminatory context, or in a way that suggests endorsement not given by the Photographer or any depicted person.

12. Credit

12.1 Wherever reasonably practicable, the credit must read: Claire Fear / clairefear.com.

12.2 For press distribution, the Client must use reasonable endeavours to provide the credit with the Image and request that publishers retain it.

12.3 If a credit is deliberately or repeatedly omitted in circumstances where it was reasonably practicable to include it, the Photographer may charge a reasonable additional fee reflecting the loss of attribution and promotional value.

13. Confidentiality, embargoes and portfolio use

13.1 Each party will keep confidential information received from the other confidential and use it only as necessary for the Commission.

13.2 The Client must identify any confidential, security-sensitive or embargoed material before the Commission and confirm the embargo end date in writing.

13.3 Unless otherwise agreed, the Photographer may display delivered Images and identify the project and Client in her portfolio, website, social media, lectures, exhibitions, award submissions and self-promotion after the project has been made public.

13.4 The Photographer will not use confidential or embargoed Images publicly before the agreed release date.

14. People, model releases and other rights

14.1 Responsibility for permissions depends on who arranges and controls the relevant subject, location or material.

14.2 The Client is responsible for permissions relating to people, locations, artworks, documents, trademarks and other material supplied, selected or arranged by the Client, unless the Photographer has expressly agreed in writing to obtain a particular release.

14.3 The Photographer does not warrant that a model, property or other release exists unless that release is specifically listed in writing.

14.4 Where children or vulnerable people are involved, the Client and Photographer will agree appropriate authority, consent, safeguarding and usage arrangements before photography begins.

14.5 The Client must not use an Image beyond the scope supported by the permissions and releases available.

15. Payment and late payment

15.1 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice date.

15.2 Payment must be made in pounds sterling by the method stated on the invoice, without deduction, withholding or set-off except where required by law.

15.3 For qualifying business-to-business debts, the Photographer reserves the right to charge statutory interest at 8% above the applicable Bank of England base rate, together with the applicable fixed compensation sum and any further reasonable recovery costs permitted by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

15.4 If an invoice remains unpaid after the due date, the Photographer may suspend delivery, withdraw provisional permission to use the Images, decline further work and require all outstanding invoices to be paid immediately.

15.5 Continued or unlicensed use of Images after a Licence has been suspended or withdrawn may constitute copyright infringement in addition to breach of contract.

16. Complaints and rejection

16.1 The Client must raise any concern about the delivered work in writing within 10 Business Days of delivery, explaining the issue in reasonable detail.

16.2 The Photographer will consider whether the work departs materially from the agreed brief and, where appropriate, may offer a reasonable correction or alternative remedy.

16.3 There is no right to reject Images solely because of subjective preference concerning style, composition, selection or editing where the work is consistent with the agreed brief and the Photographer's demonstrated approach.

16.4 Nothing in these terms limits any statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.

17. Archive and retrieval

17.1 The Client is responsible for maintaining its own secure archive of delivered files.

17.2 The Photographer may retain working and final files for professional, evidential, copyright and archive purposes but does not guarantee indefinite storage.

17.3 Retrieval or re-upload after the delivery period is subject to availability and may be charged at the Photographer's then-current rate.

17.4 The Photographer is not liable for loss of files after delivery where the Client has had a reasonable opportunity to download and back them up.

18. Data protection

18.1 Each party will comply with applicable data-protection law in relation to personal information processed for the Commission.

18.2 The Photographer's handling of enquiries, client records, website information and photographic material is described in the privacy notice published at clairefear.com.

18.3 Where the Photographer processes personal information solely on the Client's documented instructions, the parties will agree any additional data-processing terms reasonably required.

19. Liability and indemnity

19.1 The Photographer will perform the Commission with reasonable care and skill.

19.2 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

19.3 Subject to clause 19.2, the Photographer is not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, loss of anticipated savings, reputational loss, or loss arising from publication or use outside the agreed Licence.

19.4 Subject to clause 19.2, the Photographer's total liability arising from a Commission will not exceed the total fees paid or payable for that Commission.

19.5 The Client is responsible for the accuracy and legality of captions, claims, copy and publication contexts it supplies or approves.

19.6 The Client will indemnify the Photographer against claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from the Client's unlicensed, unlawful or misleading use of Images, or from materials and instructions supplied by the Client, except to the extent caused by the Photographer's negligence or breach.

20. Force majeure

20.1 Neither party is liable for delay or failure caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including severe weather, fire, flood, epidemic, transport disruption, industrial action, utility or communications failure, restrictions imposed by authorities, site closure or serious illness.

20.2 The affected party will notify the other as soon as reasonably practicable and the parties will seek to reschedule or agree a fair alternative.

21. Termination

21.1 Either party may terminate the agreement if the other commits a material breach and does not remedy it within 14 days after written notice, where the breach is capable of remedy.

21.2 The Photographer may terminate immediately if the Client requires unlawful or unsafe work, seriously breaches safeguarding or confidentiality requirements, becomes insolvent, or fails to make an overdue payment after notice.

21.3 Termination does not affect accrued payment obligations, copyright ownership, confidentiality, licence restrictions or rights arising from an earlier breach.

22. General

22.1 If any provision is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect.

22.2 A delay in enforcing a right does not waive that right.

22.3 No person other than the parties has any right to enforce these terms under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

22.4 Notices under these terms may be sent by email to the addresses used for the Commission, unless a party has notified a replacement address.

22.5 These terms and the accepted project documents form the entire agreement relating to the Commission.

23. Governing law and jurisdiction

23.1 The agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales.

23.2 The courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory rights applicable to a consumer.

24. Consumer clients

24.1 These terms are intended primarily for clients acting in the course of business.

24.2 If the Client is an individual acting wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession, statutory consumer rights apply and take priority over any inconsistent provision.

24.3 Where a consumer books remotely or away from the Photographer's business premises, separate cancellation information and any request to begin work during a statutory cancellation period should be recorded in writing.