Image rights and use

We are very happy to lend Resene owned images for most requests. Click here to find out how to request Resene owned images.

Who owns the rights to an image?

In New Zealand the copyright owner may be:

• The customer

  • If the photographer has been commissioned by the customer to take the image.

• An employer

  • If the image is taken by an employee on behalf of the employer.

• The photographer

  • If they took the image without being commissioned.
  • Or if the customer who commissioned the image has opted out of image rights via a contract.

Currently New Zealand is unique that when you commission a photographer to take images for you, you own the rights to those images, not the photographer.

If you are hiring a photographer you can choose to opt out of owning the image rights if you wish to. Please be aware that this may restrict your use of images to specific uses and may mean you are not allowed to distribute or reproduce the images freely.

In most other countries the photographer automatically owns the image rights, but the image rights can be assigned to someone else, e.g. the customer commissioning the images, by a contract agreed by both parties.

Different photographers can offer different terms so make sure whoever you choose to work with that you both agree on image ownership and use. If you're agreeing to image rights that are different to the normal image rights that apply in your country, it is best to have this agreed in writing before any images are taken to avoid confusion later.

If you wish to borrow images from our website:

Non-Resene owned images

When Resene does not own the rights to an image, we will endeavour to refer you back to the source of the original image so that you can seek permission to use the image.

Where possible we list the photographer for projects so you can contact them and the specifier/designer or project organiser directly to request permission to use their image. We don't include contact details for homeowners unless we are promoting their business/service.

Resene owned images

We are usually very happy to provide permission to use Resene owned images, free of charge, provided they are being used in a positive manner and are properly acknowledged.

Resene owned images are generally created in three ways:

1. A professional photographer who is commissioned to take images for Resene.

2. Resene staff take the image as part of their Resene role. As they are acting in their role as an employee at Resene the image is owned by Resene as their employer.

3. Non-Resene staff, who are not professional photographers, are commissioned to take the image for Resene.

If a Resene image is being used, we ask that the source is acknowledged (e.g. 'Image courtesy of Resene). Some Resene images may need additional credits, which we can advise.

If the image you request is not Resene owned, we'll refer you to the image or project owner, where we have their contact details, to gain their permission.

If you're sending us an image

If you supply us an image for any reason, please ensure you have the appropriate image rights before the image is supplied to allow Resene to use it free of charge without infringing on anyone's image rights. Please also include a photographer credit if this is required. This could be to acknowledge the professional photographer or an amateur photographer. The photographer doesn't need to be a professional to be acknowledged in an image credit. If there are any restrictions on use, please advise this when the image is sent. We will endeavour to include image credits where possible, but please be aware some media do not always have space or have policies or formats that don't allow for an image credit to be included.

If you send multiple images and more than one photographer has been used, please ensure image credits are clear for each image.

Supplying an image for Resene to use means you are giving Resene permission to use the image free of charge. It does not change the image rights ownership and you, or whoever has the original image rights, will continue to own the image rights.

How do we use images supplied?

Most images supplied to Resene are used for content publishing, such as in our magazines and printed publications for Resene, habitat, BlackWhite and MasterStroke and through our Resene ColorShops, websites, articles, emails, videos, social channels and related content. We also work with a wide range of other media and assist them with articles, content and promotional activity for their publications and work, which may include images that have been supplied to us.

If there are any restrictions on any use of an image you supply, please let us know when you send it. Please be aware that restrictions will usually limit the ability for your project to be included in some media or promotional channels.