FAQ for PICTURE USERS
IN WHAT FORMAT ARE THE IMAGES AVAILABLE? -- All Signs-and-Wonders images will be supplied in high-resolution JPG format. Special file formats may be available on request. The original images are scanned at high resolutions that allow for printing at 300dpi at the desired image size.
HOW DO YOU SUPPLY IMAGES FOR USE? -- Once the order and payment have been agreed Signs-and-Wonders.com will use a secure and fast delivery service such as that offered by YouSendIt.com. Client will receive a private email notification which will contain a unique link to a secure location – valid for seven days only – from which they can download the image file.
WHAT RIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR IMAGES? -- Signs-and-Wonders.com licences digital images for commercial use in all published media, which includes printed, optical, digital and Internet distribution. Our images fall into four categories (usually indicated on the ‘zoom’ view) … Managed Rights (ie. we are acting as agents for the copyright holder) and a licence must be bought for each use.) Royalty Free - Supply Only (These are usually out-of-copyright images which are available for a one-off supply fee, after which you may freely use them as you wish.) Conditional - Supply Only (These images are usually the copyright of the designated owner. We can supply a copy - subject to a supply fee- but we cannot supply permission to use and strongly advise you to secure the proper publishing license directly from the copyright holder yourself.) And Restricted (These images have conditions placed upon their use by their owners. Eg. some may not be used for advertising; others may only be used for academic or non-commercial projects.) See Terms & Conditions for a more additional explanation.
WHY DOES IMAGE QUALITY VARY SO MUCH? -- Most picture libraries take great pains to present you with clean, vivid images, clear of scratches, specks and in focus. Naturally, this is possible with new photography but unfortunately the quality of rare and historical imagery is often beyond our control. Many photographs will lose their value as honest historical documents if they are digitally ‘improved’. However, if we are scanning old engravings or woodcuts, for example, we can sometimes dramatically improve their appearance by sharpening lines and removing text show-through as well as dust and other printing imperfections. We would all prefer a strong, crisp and unequivocal photo of the Loch Ness monster, say, a UFO or a ghost, but more often than not a fuzzy, scruffy, poorly photographed image is the only piece of visual evidence available. Wherever feasible though, we might be able to clean and repair images - restoring them rather than enhancing them – but only if this does not compromise the value of the image as an authentic document. In this case we would offer both original and cleaned versions, clearly marked.
HOW DO YOU CHARGE FOR USAGE? -- For our first year of operation there will be a flat fee of £60 for licence or supply.
DO YOU ADD IMAGES ON A REGULAR BASIS? -- We are always on the lookout for new material and add it as soon as we can process the images and update Signs-and-Wonders.com. Additions and changes are logged in ‘What’s New’.
DO YOU OFFER REFUNDS? -- As a rule, no! Once your purchase is made we can not offer a refund. We have designed Signs-and-Wonders.com to allow you to browse at your own pace and make your own selections. Should any image file we supply fail to open, or be corrupt, or the image inferior to the described quality, we will, of course, replace it promptly. Any request will be judged on its circumstances and on a rare occasion we might be able to make an exception.
ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON MY USE OF THE IMAGES THAT I DOWNLOAD? -- Yes! In making your purchase, you must agree not to redistribute our copyrighted images, or allow the use of our images in any other way than those described in your purchase agreement. You must also ensure our copyright or credit line is visible in proximity to the image used.
I DON’T HAVE TIME TO GO THROUGH ALL THE IMAGES. DO YOU ACCEPT RESEARCH REQUESTS? -- Generally, no! Signs-and-Wonders.com has been designed as a showcase only. We have no staff to do your work for you. However, if you are having difficulties, or looking for rare or obscure material, do email us. We might be able to help with suggestions or pointers.
WHY CAN’T YOU GIVE PERMISSION TO USE THE IMAGES MARKED ‘SUPPLY ONLY’? -- We can’t, usually, because they are copyrighted images and we don’t own the copyright. For example, newspaper images collected by Bob Rickard during his editorship of Fortean Times are usually the copyright of other individuals or publishers. The true copyright owners of some other images may be unknown, in dispute, or simply impossible to establish. It is frequently the case that a newspaper, for example, can no longer supply an image from an edition long out of print; usually because they have no resources to archive material older than, say, five years back. In all these cases, Signs-and-Wonders can supply a copy of the image but cannot give you permission to reproduce or use it. However, in most cases, we can say who owns the copyright, to the best of our knowledge, so you can contact them yourself. We advise you to seek the appropriate permission from the copyright holder before using the supplied image.
DO YOU OFFER SUBSCRIPTION MEMBERSHIPS? -- Not at the moment but possibly sometime in the future.
IS ACCOUNT SHARING ALLOWED? -- Generally, no! Except for companies and institutions etc, we prefer each individual who may make a purchase to have their own registration.
DO YOU ALLOW ANY ‘FREE’ USE OF IMAGES? -- Yes. There are two circumstances under which this may happen. Benevolent copyright owners may stipulate that their images may be used free for academic papers or theses, some non-professional or non-commercial publications (including Internet sites) or for private purposes. If you think your usage qualifies, please inquire, stating how you intend to use the image/s. However, our administration and running costs are not free, so in these cases we will make a small supply charge (usually equivalent to a standard fee) to cover overheads. Secondly, many of our older images are out of copyright and therefore ‘Royalty Free’. However, our administration and running costs are not free. In these cases we will make a supply charge (usually equivalent to a standard fee) to cover overheads.
WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FORUM? -- We are considering adding something like this to Signs-and-Wonders.com as it is a very good idea to have a special place to discuss matters relating to our topics or to specific images. Indeed, users, researchers and owners could swap tips on techniques, ask for help and (hopefully) receive useful leads. However, as this site is new, we want to get it under way before adding another layer of complication, admin and cost … but be assured, if the demand is there we’ll try to add it sooner. Do let us know what you think. | |
FAQ for COPYRIGHT OWNERS
I AM CONSIDERING PLACING MY IMAGES WITH YOU. WHAT RIGHTS DO YOU REQUIRE? -- Firstly, please contact us. Let us know what you have and we can discuss the material and terms. Our primary aim is to develop a collection of material that falls within our remit and make it available to scholars and researchers. In order to fund this, our secondary aim is to licence reproduction of our images and share the revenue with our registered image and copyright owners. In effect, you will be appointing Signs-and-Wonders.com as a licensing agent for the images you place with us. While exclusivity is desirable, we don’t insist upon it; this means that you are free to use those images yourself elsewhere. However, if you then approach another picture library and they require exclusivity, it may breach your contract with us … so do keep us informed of any usage you arrange independently.
I WANT TO PLACE MY IMAGES WITH YOU, WHAT’S THE NEXT STEP? -- Usually, unless another arrangement is agreed, you send us the original material (or your best version) so we can make high-quality scans of your images. Your originals will then be returned to you. In our simple contract our standard arrangement is a 50:50 split, with all running costs covered in our half. Usage will be accounted to owners in half-yearly statements. NB: There is no guarantee that any of your images will be used immediately -- images are chosen by editors and picture researchers to illustrate current work -- but placing them with us definitely increases your chances as the images in Signs-and-Wonders.com will be available to online search engines.
WHAT OTHER BENEFITS WILL I HAVE IF I PLACE MY IMAGES WITH YOU? -- Frankly, the arrangement will relieve you of the bother of fielding copyright and other queries and supplying prints etc. We can deal with the inquiries, permission requests and correspondence, supply the image and chase any payment … so you don’t have to. We will strive to maintain your copyright where we notice it breached. There is also the peace of mind in knowing that we have a backup copy of your valuable images, militating against possible loss.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘OTHER’ NON-COMMERCIAL LICENSED USAGE? -- While revenue is generated by commercial usage – usually in books, periodicals, TV, movies or advertising – we anticipate some special usages outside the commercial market which will only be granted conditionally and by agreement. These include the use of licensed images in academic papers, research studies (eg, image analysis or copyright history tracing), lectures, and non-commercial specialist (fan-type) periodicals. Your contract form gives you the opportunity to allow or disallow these usages.
I AM THE RIGHTFUL COPYRIGHT OWNER OF AN IMAGE WHICH YOU ARE DISPLAYING FOR USE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. WHAT REDRESS DO I HAVE? -- If you are the rightful owner of an image or images who finds that image or images on this site bearing the Signs-and-Wonders.com copyright … please get in touch with us as soon as possible with your proof of ownership. If we inadvertently get our copyright information wrong, we apologise unreservedly and are only too glad to correct it and come to an agreement with the rightful owner. If your claim is authentic, we promise to pass on to you any revenue that we have gathered for that image (as we keep full records of usage), and place an apology on our ‘news’ page. We will also, immediately, withdraw the image from our catalogue and notify any clients, who have used that image, of the proper ownership. That said, we hope the better outcome would be that you allow us to continue to be an agent for that image under our standard terms. We fully believe in the proper attribution of credit and respect for rightful ownership. However, while we spend considerable time trying to establish ownership it is not always possible, especially when the Internet has spawned multiple versions of the same image with conflicting claims to ownership. Where there is doubt about rightful ownership, or where this has been impossible to determine, or where we have in good faith believed an image to be in the public domain, we assert our right to put our copyright mark on our version of that image. We do so to protect the image and the absent owner’s rights, declaring that we are acting for and in the interest of that absent owner. To re-iterate: if you believe you are the rightful owner of any of our images, please contact us so we can remedy the situation.
WHY DO I SEE OTHER PLACES ON THE INTERNET CLAIMING COPYRIGHTS TO SOME OF YOUR IMAGES? -- It could be for a number of reasons. Firstly -- , we take great care to identify the original or legal owners of copyrights. Sometimes this involves long or difficult research. Secondly -- , the Internet is a free-for-all, in which it is very difficult to monitor copyright theft until a complaint is made. Usually, this can be rectified by a gentleman’s agreement between the user, us or the owner. Thirdly -- , there is a legacy of confusion that dates back beyond the early days of the Internet to the era of fanzines and small publications, when images were frequently used without regard to obtaining proper permissions. In time - and especially in the cases of copies of copies - some images became so common that ownership was claimed by several different users. In some cases, people genuinely (but wrongly) think they own an image simply because it has been in their possession for a time or they have been using it for years. Proper research in the matter entails tracing the original image or the first publication; this often disproves the more recent and erroneous claims. Finally -- , the image in question may be on offer from other sources because we do not have an exclusive agreement with the owner. |
