What is non commercial photography?

At first glance, this seems intuitively fair and reasonable. Many of my photographs on Flickr are licensed under a non-commercial Creative Commons license. Sure, you can use one of my photos on your website (with appropriate attribution, as needed). But I can't say that I was especially excited to learn that someone was selling my photos on a microstock site or selling posters without giving me anything back.

That's why, like many, I chose a non-commercial license. As a general rule, even if you don't need to obtain a noncommercial photography permit, you should review the permit guidelines to make your park experience safe and enjoyable for everyone. The non-commercial photography application does not come with the rental of the premises; for the rental of premises, see “Application for commercial outdoor photography” or “Application for renting premises” ¼. The commercial use of an image would be to reproduce it in any way that is primarily intended or directed to obtain a commercial advantage or monetary compensation.

Commercial activities would be: production of merchandise, images used in movies and television, in publications that are sold and commercial advertisements and promotions online or offline. However, if you want to organize a photo or video shoot for special occasions, you may need a noncommercial photo permit. You may not exercise any of the rights granted to you in Section 3 above in any way whose primary purpose is to obtain commercial advantages or private monetary compensation or for their purpose. Non-commercial means that something is not primarily intended to obtain a commercial advantage or monetary compensation from a person or organization or to gain a commercial advantage.

You are always free to locate and contact the rights holder to request permission to use an image for commercial purposes. In order not to affect the rights of visitors, the flow of visitor traffic and the development of vendor activities, the park offers free application and registration for non-commercial photographs, including wedding photo sessions and photography groups, with a fixed fee during specific time slots. Keep in mind that it is very difficult for security guards to distinguish between amateurs and photographers who conduct commercial sessions; the only way to fix this is to be aware of your visit. Non-commercial photography includes staged wedding and engagement photos (if the wedding is being held off-site), family portraits, graduation and class photographs, student projects, and more.

The use of images on or in anything created with the intention of making a profit would be considered commercial use. The time came when I had my first commercial customer who wanted images to be used in advertisements. Licensees can always contact the licensers to request permission to use the work for commercial purposes. When I mentioned this in the CC email list, I was reprimanded for trying to fragment the system, because if CC added two versions of non-commercial products, I would have to start adding variations for every possible possibility.

Whether you're practicing high-end commercial photography or taking beautiful family portraits, it's very important to understand and determine a pricing strategy that's right for you and the customer.

Laurie Cullins
Laurie Cullins

Hardcore internet guru. Typical web maven. Passionate food trailblazer. Wannabe web fan. Avid beer guru.