Clause library
Usage rights and credit clause, explained
A usage-rights-and-credit clause names how the client may use the work — media, territory, term — and whether the creator is credited.
Last updated 28 October 2026
What does an usage rights and credit clause do?
A usage-rights-and-credit clause names how the client may use the work — media, territory, term — and whether the creator is credited. Copyright stays with the author unless assigned in writing (CDPA 1988 ss.11 and 90(3)). Credit tracks the right to be identified (s.77), which must be asserted (s.78). We write the uses on one page.
What uses should the clause list?
Media (web, print, paid ads, packaging), territory, term, exclusivity, and whether the client may sublicense, crop or adapt. CDPA 1988 s.16 lists the restricted acts; usage is permission to do some of them. A day-rate shoot with a UK web licenceA licence is permission to use work in an agreed way, without taking ownership away from the person who made it.More in the glossary is not a worldwide campaign buyout. Price the extra uses as extra. Pair this page with the IP licence.
Who owns the work if the clause is only a licence?
The author, until an assignmentAssignment is the transfer of rights under a contract to someone else, such as the right to be paid. In England and Wales a legal assignment of a debt must be in writing, absolute, and notified, under the Law of Property Act 1925 s.136. Duties do not pass by assignment; moving duties takes a novation.More in the glossary in writing. CDPA 1988 s.11 makes the author the first owner of copyright in a photograph, design or film (subject to the employee exception). s.90(3) requires signed writing to assign. A wide usage grant is still a licence. If the client needs to own the file, write an assignment that takes effect on full payment.
Is a credit line the same as a moral-rights assertion?
Credit in the contract helps. The right to be identified under CDPA 1988 s.77 is not infringed unless it has been asserted (s.78): on an assignment, by a statement in the instrument, or by a signed writing. A ‘credit where practicable’ sentence is not always an s.78 assertion. If credit matters, assert the right in the signed paper and name the credit wording. See moral rights.
What happens if the client uses the work outside the licence?
That is copyright infringement of the reserved acts, and a breach of contractA breach of contract is a failure by one party to do what it promised in the contract, without a valid excuse.More in the glossary. The remedy is an injunction, damages or an account of profits, plus the extra usage fee you named. Write a rate card for overage — new territory, paid ads, extra years — so the next use is a quote, not a fight. Do not leave unused media silently granted.
Example wording
Example · our own drafting
The Client may use the Deliverables in the media, territory and for the term set out in the scheduleA schedule is an annex to the contract that holds the detail: fees, dates, deliverables, service levels. It is part of the agreement if the main body says so. An order-of-precedence line should say what happens if the schedule and the clauses collide. Swap a schedule only by the variation method the contract names.More in the glossary. Any further use needs a written licence and an extra fee. The Supplier remains first owner of copyright unless an assignment in writing is signed. The Supplier asserts its right to be identified as author under CDPA 1988 s.78. The Client will credit the Supplier as ‘[credit line]’ where the Deliverables are published, unless the Schedule says credit is not required.
In Plain English
The client may use the work in the media, places and period listed in the schedule. Anything else needs a new written permission and an extra fee. The supplier still owns the copyright unless a signed assignment says otherwise. The supplier asserts the right to be named as author. The client will use the named credit line when the work is published, unless the schedule says no credit.
What should you watch for?
| Point | Watch for | Push for |
|---|---|---|
| Grant | All media, worldwide, in perpetuity, including unknown uses, on a day rate. | Named media, a territory and a term that match the fee. |
| Ownership | A usage clause treated as a silent assignment. | Copyright left with the author unless s.90(3) writing assigns it. |
| Credit | ‘Credit where practicable’ with no assertion and no wording. | An s.78 assertion in the signed paper, and a named credit line. |
| Overage | Silence on what happens if the campaign goes wider. | A rate for extra territory, paid ads or extra years. |
| waiverA waiver is a choice not to enforce a right this time, without rewriting the contract. Accepting late work once does not, by itself, kill a time-is-of-the-essence clause if a no-waiver line is present. Waiver is not a variation: Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB [2018] UKSC 24 still requires the agreed method for a change of terms.More in the glossary | A moral-rights waiver buried in the usage paragraph. | Credit and waiver as separate sentences, each in writing. |
Which contracts include it?
Lex includes this clause in, among others:
- Photography licence
- Graphic design contract
- Videography contract
What does the law say?
The author of a work is the first owner of any copyright in it. Where a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, or a film, is made by an employee in the course of employment, the employer is the first owner, unless agreed otherwise. A photograph is an artistic work irrespective of artistic quality.
Source: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ss.4 and 11Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
An assignment of copyright is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor. Copyright may be assigned in whole or in part. A licence is permission to use the work; it is not an assignment of ownership.
Source: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.90Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
The author of a copyright literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, and the director of a copyright film, has the right to be identified as author or director (s.77) and the right not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment (s.80). Moral rights cannot be assigned; they may be waived by an instrument in writing signed by the person giving up the right (s.87).
Source: Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ss.77, 80 and 87Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
Draft a photography licence with this clause
Free for the other sideLex drafts it in Plain English beside the legal wording. Share one link; both sides agree and sign.
Frequently asked questions
What does a usage-rights-and-credit clause mean?
It names how the client may use the work — media, territory, term and exclusivity — and whether the creator is credited. It is a licence of named uses, not an assignment of copyright unless a separate signed assignment says so.
What uses should the clause list?
Media, territory, term, exclusivity, and whether the client may sublicense, crop or adapt. CDPA 1988 s.16 lists the restricted acts. Match the grant to the fee and price extra uses as extra.
Who owns the work if the clause is only a licence?
The author, as first owner under CDPA 1988 s.11, until an assignment in writing under s.90(3). A wide usage grant is still a licence. See /clauses/intellectual-property-licence.
Is a credit line the same as asserting moral rightsMoral rights are the author’s personal rights in a copyright work: to be identified as author, and not to have the work subjected to derogatory treatment. In the UK they sit in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ss.77–80. They cannot be assigned. They can be waived in writing, signed by the person giving them up, under s.87.More in the glossary?
No. The right to be identified (CDPA 1988 s.77) is not infringed unless it has been asserted (s.78). Put the assertion in the signed paper and name the credit wording. See /clauses/moral-rights.
What if the client uses the work outside the licence?
That is copyright infringement of the reserved acts, and a breach of contract. Write a rate for overage so extra territory, paid ads or extra years are a quote, not a fight.
Sources
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ss.4 and 11Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.90Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ss.77, 80 and 87Checked 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review
Related
Templates with this clause
Other clauses
The legal wording governsLast reviewed 28 October 2026Pending lawyer review