Legal notice and terms & conditions

General conditions of use of photographs

1- Documents (photographs, duplicates and digital files) are transmitted by collection from the Agency, dispatch by post or courier or by being sent electronically.


2 - The transmission of photos is subject to: - an information sheet being signed by all new clients


3 - Low-definition photos downloaded by subscribers to the Catholic Press Photo online service are for private and personal use/reproduction and internal use only. Any other use – including reproduction or representation – of the images downloaded must be declared in advance by the client in precise and accurate terms on the order form to be returned to the agency, dated and signed, before going to press or proceeding to any other form of publication.


4 - The use of images made available to the client in any way other than by downloading must be declared in advance at the point of their removal from the Agency. This will be stated on the delivery note.


5 - As soon as the photos are in actual use, and at the latest within thirty days of publication, two voucher copies (or, failing this, a material declaration of use) must be sent to the agency. Whatever form this takes, the documentary evidence must be relevant, include the editorial context for the publication as a minimum and enable billing by the agency. Any delay of more than thirty days or a failure to provide documentary evidence will entail the payment of a fixed indemnity, due immediately, equal to the amount of the fees due, without prejudice to any other damages. The client confirms that they are fully aware of the rates and prices for the assignment of usage rights (representation or public transmission or reproduction) for the Agency's photographs. Fees due to Catholic Press Photo are set in accordance with the rates in effect as at the date of the actual use of the photos. Our prices are shown exclusive of tax. The payment date and lead times are shown on the invoice.


6 - Downloaded images are and remain the exclusive property of the Agency and the photographers it represents.
- Clients undertake not to relinquish, lend, hire them out or transfer them – whether free of charge or in return for payment;
- They undertake not to keep them in an archive, or store them, either themselves, or in a third-party database, but to destroy them after the first use declared on the purchase order, all images and digital files remaining available at the agency in the event of further use;
- Not to manipulate or retouch them in any way.
- Not to use any system that will conceal the identity of the work or its creator or the terms of use, in accordance with article 12 of the WIPO treaty. Photographs entrusted to the client may not under any circumstances be pledged to its personal creditors nor pledged to creditors in the event of collective proceedings being brought.
Failure to return the documents entrusted to the client – or their deterioration – within the timescales granted to it will entail payment to the Agency of the following indemnities:
- film print: 75,00 euros per document;
- film originals: 1,220,00 euros per document;
- CD-ROM: 75,00 euros per item.



Lead times for return are one month after publication for published photos and one month after lending for unpublished photographs. Late penalties for a failure to return documents within these timescales will be due as from the date of a written reminder from the Agency on the basis of three euros per day, per document. Losses will be billed within a maximum of seven months as from the loan of the document.


7 – Clients undertake to adhere strictly to the declared use. Any other use, re-use or extension of use must, in order to be lawful, be the subject of a new advance declaration and new fees must be paid. Any failure to abide by these undertakings will entail the payment to the agency of an indemnity, due immediately, equal to double the amount of the fees due for the new use, without prejudice to any other damages. Exclusive use and any other guarantee blocking one or more images must be expressly agreed.



8 - The name of the photographer, followed by the name of the Agency and accompanied by a statement of reservation of copyright known as a copyright notice (or the symbol © followed by the name of the rights holder) must always be shown in respect of every reproduction or in conditions that allow the image and its creator to be identified without any possible ambiguity or confusion. Any omission of the name of the creator and/or the Agency and any erroneous or incomplete reference will entail the payment of a fixed indemnity to the Agency, at least equal to the amount of the fees due, without prejudice to any other damages.



9 - The use of images for paste-ups is free of charge provided it does not entail the production of printed copies or reproduction on a CD-ROM or other media or digital files; in such cases the client undertakes to notify the Agency immediately and to pay in respect thereof a sum equal to the amount of the fees corresponding to the declared use.



10 - Any illicit use of our images, as defined in point 5 above, will entail, as soon as evidence is revealed thereof, the payment of a fixed indemnity, due immediately, equal to ten times the amount of the fees corresponding to the declared use and of a minimum amount of 1,525,00 euros, without prejudice to any other damages for the termination of the subscription agreement.



11 - The client is solely responsible for non-adherence to the captions provided by the Agency.
In the absence of an express clause to the contrary, the Agency does not provide any authorisation from persons photographed on the images, nor from owners or creators whose movable or immovable property or works are represented on the images; it is the client's responsibility to obtain authorisation, if necessary, the client being solely responsible in the event of a complaint, proceedings or action brought by said persons and undertaking not to lodge any third-party appeals in respect of the Agency. The client, being the sole decision-maker in respect of the images, text and editorial content with which it associates them, bears sole responsibility in respect of the persons previously referred to.



12 - Any dispute relating to the application hereof and to which the Agency may be party, either as a claimant or defendant, either in main proceedings or joined as a third party, both in the event of emergency proceedings and holdover measures, will be referred to the competent of the Forum of Rome, in all the phases and degrees of judgment.