Image Rights Licence Agreement Template for England and Wales

An Image Rights Licence Agreement lets a business use an individual's name, image or likeness commercially on agreed terms. Because England and Wales recognises no freestanding image right, the agreement licenses the rights that do exist, in copyright, trade marks and data protection, and uses contract to supply the rest.

When do you need this document?

You need an Image Rights Licence Agreement when an individual's identity is being used to sell something: an athlete or performer endorsing a product, an influencer campaign using a creator's name and likeness, a brand ambassador appearing across advertising and packaging, or the use of an individual's image on merchandise. It is equally necessary when a business wants certainty that it may keep using material after a relationship ends.

What does it cover?

The agreement defines precisely which attributes are licensed and for what uses, in which media and territory, and for how long. It sets the individual's approval rights over materials and any exclusivity preventing endorsement of competing products. It deals with the practical trap that copyright in photographs and footage sits with whoever created it, so the licence must be paired with the right to use the specific assets. It covers data protection, reputation and morality provisions, and it settles what happens at the end: whether existing stock may be sold off, and whether archive use may continue.

Common pitfalls

The most common mistake is assuming a licence from the individual is enough to use a photograph of them. It is not: copyright sits with the photographer, and using the image without that permission infringes even with the subject's full consent. The second is a term and media definition drafted for the campaign in front of the parties, which then fails to cover uses that were never contemplated, leaving material that cannot lawfully be reused. The third is treating a contractual consent as satisfying data protection requirements, which are separate and are not met simply because a fee was paid.