Photographers: What to Do When a Vendor Wants Free Photos

Last Updated: February 12, 2025

Does this sound familiar?... You're shooting a wedding, working hard to get perfect shots of the couple, the guests, and all the sparkling details. You’re excited to add some gorgeous additions to your online portfolio. But next thing you know, the floral designer for the event is posting photos YOU took—without your permission. [Spoiler alert: This is where a photography licensing agreement for vendors can save the day!]

Although many wedding vendors often work together, it doesn’t mean you have to give your photos to vendors for free. It also does not mean that these vendors automatically get to use your images for any purpose. This is true EVEN IF a vendor says they can based on their contract with the client.

For some reason, in the wedding world in particular, some vendors assume they have automatic access to photographs taken of their work at events.

But think about it: a venue would NEVER let you use its premises without permission and a fee. A florist would charge you at least wholesale pricing to create florals for a styled shoot. A DJ isn’t going to just give you their equipment to use for your event. 

Other vendors shouldn’t expect that from you as a photographer, either.

As a lawyer and a photographer myself, I’m here to empower you with education and strong legal templates. You deserve to protect your copyrighted work—and earn some extra income along the way! One way to do this is by licensing images to other vendors. 

First and Foremost, Do Photographers Have Copyright Ownership Over Their Images?

Yes! Under U.S. law, specifically, The Copyright Act of 1976 and Title U.S.C. 17 protects original works of authorship. Based on this law and supporting court decisions, this category includes photographs. This copyright protection exists the moment your work is created and fixed in a tangible form. You must be able to see it either directly (in a physical form) or with a machine or device, such as a digital/film camera and computer.

To get the strongest copyright protection, including enforceability in court, you can register photos with the U.S. Copyright Office. However, you have copyright ownership over your photographs the moment you click your shutter button, and the photo transfers onto your memory card or film.

With all this in mind, vendors should NOT be using your photos without your permission. This is considered copyright infringement and it is against the law.

To learn more about copyrights, check out our article: Photography copyrights: What you should know! 

Copyright Issues for Other Types of Event and Wedding Vendors 

What if a vendor, such as a florist, cake designer, or decorator, claims they have copyright ownership because your photo features their creative work? Legally speaking, this usually isn’t the case. 

It’s all determined by the ‘fixability’ and ‘originality’ of a work. Despite creativity and value, floral arrangements, tablescapes, and similar decorations are often considered temporary installations. They might decay over time, so they do not qualify for copyright protection. As a result, photographers own the rights to their images, even if they prominently feature these types of designs. 

As a professional courtesy, it’s still a good idea to credit other vendors. For example, you can identify vendors when posting pictures of wedding decorations in your online portfolio or social media account.

Here is a helpful blog article and a YouTube video that explains more about copyright law for wedding and event vendors.

To protect your photos from copyright infringement, we recommend a proactive approach. You can let other vendors know that they need to license photos from you before they can use them in their marketing.

Should I License My Images To Vendors?

It depends! Photographs and related digital images are your hard-earned work product. Like most businesses, you may want to have multiple streams of income coming from that work product. Photography licenses are a great opportunity to boost your business income while protecting your work!

However, in some instances, you may want to charge a licensing fee, while in others, it might make sense to provide a few highlight photos for free—especially if the vendor gives you proper credit and the opportunity to be on their preferred vendor list. The key is to be strategic about when and how you share your work.

That said, no matter what, you should always have a photo licensing agreement in place with every vendor who wants to use your images. This ensures clear terms for usage, proper attribution, and legal protection for your work.

Bonus tip: This goes for event venues too! Read more about photo licensing for venues here.

We recommend these steps for getting proactive about photo licensing for vendors:

1. Get a list of all the vendors involved with the wedding or event right when your client retains you. 

2. Contact the vendors, introduce yourself, and talk about prep for the event.

3. Use the opportunity to let them know that they may be able to license photos from you after the event (complimentary or for a fee—you decide). Explain your fees upfront. 

4. If they seem interested and you trust the vendor, you can send them a licensing agreement to review. 

Keep in mind that you are not obligated to license your photos to every vendor you work with. You want your photos to be associated with highly respected businesses you enjoy. We recommend you hold off on sending a contract until you have worked with a vendor, seen them in action, and trust them. With mutual respect, you can not only earn more, but also gain referrals and create long-lasting relationships with other vendors.

Licensing your photos does not mean you give up your copyright rights. Instead, you are protecting your work product from unlawful infringement. You are also setting the expectation of the value of your work product.

How To Handle Licensing Photos To Vendors: 3 Ideas for Photographers

When vendors ask for photos, you should present them with a licensing agreement that explains what they can and cannot do with your images for marketing and advertising purposes. Or, at the very least, explain your terms via email. 

*I’ve included links to our photo licensing agreement templates and a free email template for you to use at the bottom of this article.

Regarding fees, here are three examples of approaches you could take:

1. You could simply email all the vendors involved in the wedding or event a complimentary link to your highlight images or full gallery. You can do this in exchange for proper credit and attribution to your photography business. This is a great way to build credibility and a good reputation in the industry. Just be sure to clearly explain in the email what that license to use includes! SEE BELOW FOR AN EMAIL TEMPLATE!

2. License your images for a fee. It’s usually a small amount, but it indicates to the vendors that you own the copyright rights to your images, that you value that copyright, and that you are protecting your assets.

3. Do a mix of both of these options by allowing them, say, 5-10 photos complimentary. If they wanted to use more, they could pay a small fee. Be sure that you further explain that anything beyond social media or website usage would be an additional fee. 

The decision to share your images with other vendors (complimentary or with a small fee) is up to you! 

Two Types of Photo Licensing Agreements for Vendors

The Legal Paige has licensing agreement templates in our contract shop. These are simple, one-page legal documents. It’s a quick and reliable way to get clear on what vendors can and cannot do with your images.

There are two kinds of licensing agreements you can have vendors sign:

• A Non-Exclusive Licensing Agreement

• An Exclusive Licensing Agreement

A non-exclusive licensing agreement is the most common and allows a vendor to use your photos for commercial purposes. Because it’s not exclusive to them, you have the freedom to sell your photos to multiple vendors for multiple reasons. You can determine how many photos you want to allow each vendor to use for commercial purposes and how they are allowed to publish them (via only website and social media or, say, charging a larger fee for billboard use.) 

Now, if a vendor wants exclusive use of the photos that feature their work, there is a way to do that through an Exclusive Licensing Agreement. An Exclusive Licensing Agreement means that a person or business will have sole use of your photos. No other vendors (oftentimes even you) can use them. For that reason, exclusive licensing agreements should have a larger fee.

Whatever licensing agreement you choose, we generally recommend attaching a licensing fee. KNOW YOUR WORTH!

Bonus tip from TLP: Make sure your clients have signed a model release so that you can license the photos to “third parties”... aka vendors….that they appear in. You can find a model release form HERE if you don’t have a model release clause in your existing contract.

The Legal Paige Take

As a photographer, you’ve worked hard on your business. Your photographs and digital images are YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET. Do not give away your hard-earned photos without ensuring vendors clearly understand what they can do with those images!

If you'd like to go the more non-formal route, here is a template email that you can copy & paste when you send over the images to vendors.

Dear [Vendor's Name],

Thank you for reaching out and expressing interest in using the photos from [Client's Name]'s event held on [Event Date] at [Venue Name] for promotional and marketing purposes. It's always exciting to hear someone wants to feature my photography work! 

I am happy to grant you a limited commercial license to use the images on your social media and website. These images are copyrighted, so I ask that you credit my business, [Your Photography Business Name], in all instances where the photos are used. 

This credit can be in the form of a mention or tag, such as: Images by [Your Photography Business Name]

Please let me know if you have any specific requirements or formats for the images you need. 

Please refrain from sharing these photos with anyone else or in another capacity without my permission.

Additionally, I would appreciate it if you could share the details of where and how the photos will be used. This helps ensure consistency and enables me to share on my own platforms, further promoting our collaboration. 

Thanks again for reaching out! I look forward to seeing our work highlighted in your marketing materials.

All my best,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Photography Business Name]
[Your Contact Information]

If you have any more questions about photo licensing agreements for vendors, we’d love to hear them in the The Legal Paige Facebook Community.

For more legal tips on running your photography business, subscribe to The Legal Paige email newsletter.

Sources

United States Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101–1511 (2023), available at https://www.copyright.gov/title17/.

DISCLAIMER

THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. EVERY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT & IS FACT-SPECIFIC. A proper legal analysis is necessary based on your location and contract. Consult an attorney in your home state for advice regarding your contract or specific legal situation.

See our full disclaimer here.

More Free Resources from The Legal Paige

The Legal Paige Podcast: Episode 140: How to Use Licensing Agreements to Protect Your Photography Business

The Legal Paige YouTube Channel: “How Vendors Can Protect Their Creative Work [2024]”

The Legal Paige Blog: “The Difference Between ™ and Copyright: How to Protect Your Business”