Information for image users

When will you have dealings with us?
Virtually every publication, every website and every television programme uses images. Copyright law stipulates that the author’s permission is required for this. That permission is usually linked to a financial payment: image creators must, after all, live on the income from their creative labours.

Apart from a couple of exceptions, publishers and producers are obliged to trace the creators of the images in order to ask permission for publication. The fact that this is not always easy does not detract from this obligation. Pictoright enables the user to arrange this effectively in advance. Over 50,000 image creators both in the Netherlands and abroad are registered with us and we issue licences on their behalf. Our rates are harmonised with sister organisations abroad. Pictoright arranges permission for publication.

Asking permission is compulsory
Users are often confused as to what they can and cannot do under copyright law. The golden rule is: anyone who wants to publish someone else’s image must ask permission for this from the creator or their heirs. This obligation only lapses 70 years after the death of the artist. Hence the work of Rembrandt is rights-free, but that of Picasso is not. Anyone who publishes a picture of a painting by Picasso in a book or leaflet without permission runs the risk of having to pay damages.

You can look up the visual creators  for whom Pictoright manages the individual author’s rights. You can use the Request for Permission form to arrange the permission and the fee for the use with Pictoright. If the maker is not signed up with us, you need to arrange this directly with the artist themselves to their heirs.

Request for permission
By submitting a request for permission you comply with the requirements of the Auteurswet (Copyright Act) and the General Conditions Pictoright. Once we have received your request, permission will be requested from the artist and the royalty will be calculated. You will receive an invoice based on a standard list of charges, after which you can publish the image. Pictoright will arrange the further financial settlement with the artist.

Fees
Pictoright applies standard fees and general charging terms for the use of works. These fees depend on – for example – the purpose of the use, the format and the print run. The tariff list can be viewed by clicking here.. The charging terms can be found here: Algemene Tariefbepalingen.

If you are resident in one of the countries where Pictoright has a sister organisation, you can arrange the permission through that sister organisation.

If you would like more information about Pictoright in English, please e-mail info@pictoright.nl