Frequently asked questions about the photo contracts

To help you as best we can, we have answered a number of possible questions. These are below. Is your question not listed or do you want to know more? Let us know by e-mail: fotocontracten@anp.nl

Why new contracts?

After the ANP's acquisition of Novum, Hollandse Hoogte and the Nationale Beeldbank in 2018, the photographer database at ANP was expanded by very many photographers.

The photographers who had come along with Hollandse Hoogte almost all had written agreements, but with Hollandse Hoogte. The content of these agreements is largely outdated. The content of the agreements also differs, is sometimes incomplete and therefore no longer up to date. This is not in the interest of photographers, nor of the ANP.

Most photographers at the National Image Bank had or have no agreement at all with the National Image Bank or the ANP. We now want to regulate that as well.

Novum, Hollandse Hoogte and the Nationale Beeldbank were separate companies, but they are no longer that. B.V. Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau is the company, the legal entity, with which every photographer now works. That too must be laid down in an agreement.

What kind of agreements are there?

There are two new agreements.

(a) A License Agreement. This is intended for photographers who submit their images to the image bank www.anpfoto.nl and/or www.nationalebeeldbank.nl.

(b) a Framework Agreement. This is intended for photographers who carry out assignments for the ANP photo editors.

As a photographer you may have to sign two agreements: if you work for the news service and if you upload your own work to the image bank.

What is the procedure for signing the new contract?

The workflow for signing looks like this.

If you do not yet have an account for the back office of the ANP Image Bank (backoffice.anpfoto.nl) you will receive one from us. You will receive an automatic link to create your own password.

Some photographers have more than one account because they used to work for Hollandse Hoogte, ANP Photo, Novum Regiofoto or the Nationale Beeldbank. For those photographers we are now merging those accounts, the photos, sales reports, reimbursements and settlements. So that everyone ends up with one account where you can find everything together.

To sign the new contract, log into the back office of our image bank. First check your contact and financial data. Also think about your bank account number and possibly your VAT identification number.

Once you have checked and approved everything, you will be given the option to sign the agreement. Signing is done digitally. You do not have to print and send a document.

Do you sign? Then you agree with it. Your agreement is automatically added to your account in the image bank and can be viewed there.

If you do not agree, you will be given the opportunity to indicate why. You will receive a response within five working days.

The License Agreement

As ANP we will exploit your photo material. This means that we will offer your photos to our customers and relations via the image banks anpfoto.nl and nationalebeeldbank.nl, and that we will always go for the highest possible rate for the use of your photos. This new agreement is about the collaboration between you as a photographer and the ANP and not about the place where your photos will be placed.

In addition to customers in the Netherlands, ANP also has a large worldwide network of agencies with which we work, partly due to the merger with Hollandse Hoogte. We import images from them, we export images to them. That's why the agreement says "worldwide". There are a number of photographers who have an exception clause in their current agreement. We try to respect them as much as possible in the new agreement. But those remain and are really exceptions.

Article 2: Exclusive License

Article 2 of this agreement deals with exclusivity. This concerns the material that you, as a photographer, place with the ANP. We would like those images to be exclusive. As a photographer, you naturally retain the right to supply images to parties on behalf of or at the request of yourself. What we do not want is that images can be found at both ANP and a competing agency. So the same photos that are exploited in two or more image banks. In practice, this leads to confusion.

Article 2.2 states: 'Notwithstanding Article 2.1, the Photographer has the right to immediately sell his/her Image Material elsewhere before the Image Material is placed under the management of the ANP. After the Image Material has been placed under the management of ANP, the Photographer can only sell the Image Material to end users after explicit permission from ANP."

We want to prevent confusion - with us, with customers - whether a photographer and his collection is represented by us or not: That his/her/their images can be obtained via ANP, but also from another agency. In principle, we do not want a photographer to place his/her/their material with another agency, but exclusively with us and that we can exploit this material worldwide. Competitive means: on the same market as where ANP operates. As a representative, the ANP is ultimately the arbiter of what is competitive and what is not.

Delivering to your own customers is no problem for ANP. However, please let us know if such a sale could have consequences for ANP. For example, because you sell the rights to the photo, you yourself exclusively license a photo or any other reason that could reasonably result in ANP being limited in its sales options.

Article 3.1 states that the ANP pays a fee of 50% to the photographer over the net sales price. But what if I now have a different payment percentage?

Numerous agreements have been made with all those photographers over the years, including with regard to contributions. The ANP has always had a remittance rate of 50% and we stick to that. We think that is a fair compensation for the work that is done on the part of the photographer and on the part of the ANP.

Hollandse Hoogte charged a fee of 5 euros for sales of 30 euros or more. This will no longer be chargede. We have calculated that this fully compensates for the lower remittance percentage for photographers.

or photographers who have a payment percentage higher than 55%, we check per photographer whether we maintain the existing payment percentage. Again, the following applies: by exception.

Article 3.3 Does this mean that the photographer can no longer invoke the right afterwards to determine whether or not this is fair compensation?

We are pulling together on this. We share a goal, the ANP and the photographer: to obtain the highest possible price for the use of photos in the market. Apart from the large contracts: we use a rate list that we index annually, which is in line with the market and which we know our customers are willing to pay. That's the fair price.

Article 4.4: Why do we pass on any additional assessments, interest and fines?

We enter into an agreement together (ANP and photographer), but we explicitly state that it concerns a) exploitation of images and b) that there is no employment relationship. If it turns out that there is and we are then confronted with fines, these will be at the expense of the photographer.

General provisions

2.1.B What do we mean by 'perpetual' and 'worldwide'?

Global: We operate photography worldwide, with no restrictions on countries or regions and perpetual: we want the ability to negotiate licenses without a predetermined period of time.

Article 5.4: what is 'minus the agreed percentage'?

ANP makes the declaration at Pictoright. We keep track of all sales that Pictoright requests. These are the sales for which ANP has done all the work: from delivering the images to handling the invoicing and payment to the photographers. Therefore, there is also a right to compensation to ANP. After Pictoright has reported this to ANP, ANP distributes the money among the photographers and remits 50% to them.

Articles 11 and 13

With these provisions, we regulate liability. We indicate that the person who makes the image public (which is not the photographer and which is not ANP) is responsible for the use of the visual material.

We also state that we ask the photographer to ensure that everything concerning copyright and portrait rights is properly regulated when creating the images. That laws and regulations have been complied with. Permission has been granted to place images commissioned by third parties in the image bank. In short: that the photographer has acted neatly and carefully.

Every party in the chain from creation to delivery and payment has its own responsibility and therefore liability. If the photographer has his affairs in order, his liability will be limited in practice. But that is his own responsibility.

Article 15. Is it true that after the termination of the annual contract there will be a termination of Article 2.1 and so that the exclusive license also ends?

That's right. Note: after termination of contract (and not annual contract).

Framework agreement

How is the transfer of IP or all rights to the image as described in Articles 8 and 9 regulated?

These are specific orders from ANP for journalistic productions for the news service. These photos are under ANP copyright, so we can include these productions in the newsfeed to the suppliers with whom we have specific agreements for the use of images in our news service.

The photographer agrees with the photo editors before an assignment is given what the fee per assignment will be, among other things (see Article 5.1).

Article 5.2 The right to sue if a fee is not fair, photographer gives away here, without knowing what the fee is.

That is correct, but we always agree on rates and arrangements with photographers in advance. They either agree or they don't. That is their choice.

General

What will the ANP do about the rates it charges its customers for photo use?

We index almost all our rates and contract prices every year. In contract negotiations we always strive to ask the highest possible price. After all, that is in the interest of both the photographer and the ANP.

Can the list of rates be added to the draft contract as an appendix? Or be requested on request?

We do not share the list of rates as a whole. Making it public complicates our negotiations with customers. Where a photographer has a specific question about a rate, he/she/them can always contact us.

Why can't photographers consult on the content of contracts?

We represent very many photographers and the number of agreements with them is a motley collection of agreements made over all the years. We are now straightening that out.