Define: Editorial Use

What Editorial Use Means in a Contract

Editorial Use is a defined term found in licensing and content agreements that restricts how licensed material, most commonly photographs, video footage, illustrations or written text, may be deployed by the licensee. When material is licensed for editorial use, the licensee may use it to inform, comment on or illustrate matters of genuine public interest, such as news reporting, documentaries, blog commentary or educational material. The defining feature of the clause is what it excludes rather than what it permits: advertising, product promotion, endorsement implications and merchandising are all carved out.

This exclusion exists because editorial licenses are typically cheaper and easier to obtain than commercial licenses, precisely because they do not carry the risk of implying that a person, brand or product is being endorsed or sold. A photograph of a public figure walking down a street, for example, might be licensed for editorial use in a news article, but the same image could not lawfully be placed on a billboard advertising a product without a separate commercial license and, often, model or property releases.

How Editorial Use Is Defined or Measured

There is no universal statutory test for editorial use; instead, the term is measured by the wording the parties agree in the contract and, where relevant, by the law governing the contract as it relates to privacy, publicity rights and defamation. Most agreements define editorial use by reference to purpose rather than format, focusing on whether the content serves to inform, educate or comment on newsworthy or generally interesting subject matter.

Contracts typically list both permitted and prohibited uses to reduce ambiguity. A workable definition often includes:

• Use in news articles, opinion pieces or factual reporting
• Use in documentaries, educational materials or research publications
• Use in blog posts or commentary discussing public events or trends
• Express exclusion of advertising, sponsorship, product packaging or merchandise

Because the boundary between editorial and commercial use can be blurry, particularly online where content is frequently monetised through advertising placed alongside it, well-drafted clauses also address incidental commercial exposure, such as advertising revenue generated by a website that publishes editorial content, without treating that revenue as converting the use into a commercial one.

Where Editorial Use Appears in Agreements

Editorial use clauses appear most often in image and footage licensing agreements, stock photography terms, and content syndication deals within the media industry. They are equally relevant to sport and entertainment agreements, where footage or photographs of athletes, performers or events are licensed to broadcasters, publishers or fan sites for reporting purposes rather than sponsorship or product tie-ins.

The concept also surfaces in broader use agreements and acceptable use policies, where an organisation sets out what a licensee, member or user may and may not do with supplied material. A Use Agreement or an Acceptable Use Policy may reference editorial use as one of several permitted categories, alongside academic, personal or internal business use, each carrying different obligations and fees.

Why the Exact Wording Matters

The precise wording of an editorial use clause determines whether a licensee's actual conduct falls inside or outside the license granted. If a business mistakenly uses editorially licensed material in an advertisement or on merchandise, it risks breach of contract claims, infringement of intellectual property rights, and potential claims relating to unauthorised use of a person's likeness or reputation. Licensors rely on tightly drafted exclusions to protect the value of their commercial licensing revenue and to avoid unintended endorsement implications.

From the licensee's perspective, ambiguous wording creates operational risk. A marketing team that assumes editorial images can be repurposed for a social media promotion may unknowingly expose the organisation to liability. Clear definitions, together with examples of permitted and prohibited uses, reduce the chance of inadvertent breach and make it easier for non-legal staff to apply the rule correctly in day-to-day content decisions.

Drafting Considerations

When drafting or reviewing an editorial use clause, it is worth defining key terms such as.