For the avoidance of doubt, all the images, text and graphics on this site are

by Alan Mackie

and are Copyright © Alan Mackie

and all Moral Rights are asserted.

The display of images on this website constitutes an invitation to treat.

Just click the text in bold below and send an email with your name, address, business name or website URL and the details of your question.

Click here if you wish to ask for any information about copyright licences.

Thanks.

Some of the images on this website have a copyright overlay along the bottom edge.

If any industry professionals require copies of our images without the copyright overlay, for purposes of proofing or product mock-up, please feel free to ask. 197 aerial photography is always happy to co-operate and assist with any genuine enquiry.

Click here if you wish to ask for clean images for proofs or mock-ups.

As you would expect the prices charged for licences to use photographs is related directly to the number of people who will see the images. A hotel's or construction company's advertising brochures will be seen by far fewer people than a national newspaper, for instance.

Much more expensive is website use which is world wide publishing and the prices that 197 aerial photography quote reflect that fact. Anything posted on any website can potentially be seen in any country of the world and it would be an error to assume that there is such a thing as a local website. It is called the world wide web for a very good reason.

The normal charges for the use of 197 aerial photography's images and text are based on industry standard prices for rights-managed high quality aerial photography. As you would expect the price quoted will reflect the size, use and medium in which the images are used. Web use is the most expensive and for print use the number of copies and distribution is the main factor. In all cases the copyright owner must be identified and this is in line with current industry practice and legal requirements.

The display of images on this website constitutes an invitation to treat.

DISCLAIMER: This advice is of a general nature and is for guidance only.

If you are reading this section of the page because you have been caught illegally using images copied from this or any other website then you are strongly advised to seek legal advice from a copyright expert. Be aware that general solicitors tend not to have the necessary expert knowledge of the subject and have in the past offered misleading advice to infringers on several occasions. In the UK if you cannot afford legal advice you may be able to obtain it free of charge and your local Trading Standards office should also be able to clarify your legal position if asked.

It is the duty and responsibility of any person publishing anything to ensure that they are doing so legally and with the licence of the copyright owner. The law insists that you ask beforehand.

Additionally, it's not a defence to a claim of copyright infringement to plead that the image was supplied to you by another business, company or person. In the specific words of the law "it is immaterial whether any intervening acts themselves infringe copyright". The best advice is not to take anyone else's word for it - confirm permission or licence terms directly with the image or text's owner before it is published in your name.

There is also in the UK a criminal offence of copyright theft as many have recently discovered to their cost. In simple terms the knowing commercial use of copyrighted material without the licence of the owner is a criminal act. These types of cases are investigated and pursued by Trading Standards officers rather than police authorities.

In many cases the public or commercial use of images or text copied from this site will result in payment being sought to compensate for the infringing use, by legal action if necessary.

Any business or individual publishing any image(s) or text copied from this website in any form or medium without seeking prior permission and paying for a licence to do so can therefore expect to receive a claim based on 197 aerial photography's and current industry standard prices for the use high quality rights-managed images. That amount would also of course have been the basis of any legitimately negotiated copyright licence fee.

If any unauthorised or unlicensed use fails to identify the copyright and moral rights owner of the image(s) then the minimum claim will, in line with international pricing standards for copyright licences, include a surcharge of at least 50% to take account of the breach of the Moral Rights requirements of the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988, as added to and modified.

Please note that there is no justification for any difference in price between commercial and non-commercial uses of photographs. They all cost the same to produce regardless of the eventual use and that is reflected in the photographic industry's pricing guides.

Any person falsely claiming copyright ownership of infringing material either as an individual image or as a general assertion on the page or published material is in line for even higher damages claims, as you would expect. A false and dishonest claim of ownership may well be construed as fraud and/or passing-off under criminal legislation and is certainly a highly dubious act.

You can see from the above that it is cheaper, safer and a lot less trouble to seek permission before using any copyrighted material rather than afterwards.

Any future requests for licences for free use of any images or text from this website will be refused, more or less politely, depending on the nature of the request.

DISCLAIMER: This advice is of a general nature and is for guidance only. Please consult a competent legal professional who is expert in the field of copyright law if you require specific advice regarding your obligations and duties before acting on any of the information given above.

If you wish to read our terms of trading then a .pdf version (Acrobat reader required) can be obtained by email by simply clicking the link below and adding your name and address to the blank email:

Please send me a copy of 197 aerial photography's terms of trading

In keeping with industry trends and common practice the IP addresses (their unique web and internet location) and other details of visitors to this website and the pages and images they have viewed are permanently stored in website log files.

Details of this access are protected in the U.K. by the Data Protection Act.