Licensing is about usage, not ownership. The client always has the right to use their images — the question is where, how widely, and for how long. This page lays out how we structure that.
Usage, not
ownership.
Clients always own the right to use their images for personal purposes. Licensing only applies when images are used commercially — to generate revenue, promote a business, or reach a paid audience.
- A family whose portraits hang on their wall — no licensing fee, ever.
- A person using their headshot on LinkedIn and their personal website — no licensing fee.
- A restaurant using food photography in paid Instagram ads — licensing applies.
- A corporate client using headshots in a national brand campaign — licensing applies.
Licence
categories.
Every project sits clearly in one of four tiers. The applicable tier is recorded in your proposal and client agreement.
Full personal use included. No licence fee.
Typically 12 months digital use, or 3 years for corporate headshots. Bundled or nominal add-on.
Structured licence fee based on scope, platforms, territory, and duration.
Custom quote — negotiated per project.
Personal use
included.
Individual sessions are booked for personal and professional identity — not commercial gain.
Full personal use rights are included in all portrait, headshot, and personal branding packages. No additional licence fee. Use the images on LinkedIn, personal websites, CVs, social media profiles, and print for personal use.
Not included without discussion: using the images in paid advertising for a business you own, or selling/sublicensing images to third parties. If those use cases come up later, we add a Tier 2 or Tier 3 licence upgrade at that point — we don't retroactively charge the original shoot.
If your employer wants to use your headshot — on the company website, in press, in marketing — that's a business use and we'll licence it to them directly. It's usually simple and often free for a single image. Ask us rather than assume; we've never made this difficult.
Business use
for the hiring company.
When a business books headshots for their team, usage extends to internal and external professional use for the hiring company: website, email signatures, LinkedIn, press releases, internal comms.
Standard business use for the hiring company, digital and print, for 3 years from delivery.
Licence upgrades apply if: images are used in national or international paid advertising, licensed to subsidiaries or affiliated companies, or the usage period exceeds 3 years.
Commercial
asset licensing.
Brand identity, product, menus, packaging, and advertising imagery are commercial assets. Licensing is part of the package structure.
- Local / social media only — Instagram, Facebook, Google Business, local web, 12 months. Included in base package.
- Regional business use — state-wide digital + print, signage, local campaigns, 12 months. Add-on.
- National digital — national website, national social, email marketing, 12 months. Tier 3 structured fee.
- National advertising — paid national ads, OOH, billboards, print media, 12 months. Tier 3 higher fee.
- Extended / evergreen — any scope, no expiry, perpetual use. Negotiated.
Service-by-service
base rights.
Event coverage — usage rights for the event organiser's owned channels (website, social, internal comms, recap content, future event marketing) included. Upgrades for paid advertising, third-party use (sponsors/vendors), and media syndication.
Real estate — standard packages cover the single listing or leasing campaign. Once the property is sold or leased, images may not be reused commercially without a new licence.
Architecture — Tier 2 or Tier 3 depending on scope (architect portfolio, design-studio use, developer brand campaigns).
Short-form video & reels — organic social use (posted natively by the client) unlimited. Paid social / boosted posts, broadcast, and syndication are all separately quoted.
Who owns
what.
Elite Media Studio retains copyright on all commissioned images and video as the creator, in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). What you receive is a licence to use the work, not a transfer of copyright. For most clients this distinction is invisible in practice — the licence covers everything you need.
For photographs commissioned for private or domestic purposes (personal portraits, family shoots), under s.35(5) of the Act the Client retains copyright as commissioner by default, and grants the Studio a non-exclusive portfolio licence.
Expanding your
licence later.
Needs change. If you originally licensed images for local social media and later want to run a national campaign, email hello@elitemedia.studio and we'll scope a licence upgrade. Upgrades are invoiced as a separate line item specifying the new scope. We are under no obligation to retroactively legitimise usage that has already occurred outside the agreed scope — always ask first.
Not sure which
tier fits you?
Commercial licensing can feel intimidating. It doesn't need to be — tell us where and how you'll use the images, and we'll structure a licence that's fair and proportional. Email hello@elitemedia.studio.