Dear all,
I know that the subject of fee structures for the publication and broadcast of archival material is quite a popular one on the list, and several organisations have helpfully shared their fee structures lately (so, apologies if I'm going over old ground). We are in the process of reviewing our own fee structures here at Exeter Cathedral Library & Archives, and we're trying to be completely transparent about how these fees are being set.
Our policy is to charge one fee for the taking of a photograph (this is the easy bit as far as I'm concerned and is based largely on staff time for retrieving an item, setting up the camera, taking the image and sending it to the customer electronically). There is then a separate scale of charges for the publication and broadcast of images of material from our collections (a 'license'). I hold my hands up and confess that I have inherited this latter structure and I can't currently precisely define what the charge is actually for - and that makes me rather uneasy. The terms of the license I can explain (e.g. we are granting permission to reproduce an image for one specific purpose etc.) but not why the 'customer' is paying what they are paying. I hope that makes sense.
I fully expect it's just me being daft and that everyone else already knows the answer, but I would be most grateful for an explanation as to exactly how people have calculated their figures (not what the figures are). It surely can't simply be what people think their 'customers' are willing to pay, or an average of the fees we've seen others charging?! There seems to be quite a lot of variation out there in the charges people levy for different sizes of images, positioning within a publication, types of re-use, and the differences between UK, EU, world licenses in print, online and broadcast media etc. - why are these all different? What factors is it important for me to consider when determining our own charges? Are there published guidelines available that I've missed?!
Help! I'm confused. Replies please to [log in to unmask] or 01392 421423.
Thank you.
Yours sheepishly,
Ellie
Ellie Jones
(Exeter Cathedral Archivist)
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