Here’s a figure to keep in mind if a TV producer asks to use your photo or video.

You may be told that he or she has no budget for this, so please can they use your content for free. However it’s a very different story when the shoe is on the other foot…

The Guardian reports that the BBC asked for £2,000 ($4,000) when a Sky sports programme wanted to show a short classic clip from the comedy series Only Fools and Horses. That payment was to show the clip once or maybe a couple of times. Not grab the entire copyright, as media companies like to try and do when dealing with gullible members of the public.

Of course, if you are lucky enough to capture something exclusive and newsworthy, you could be looking at a payment of many tens of thousands of Pounds, while still holding onto the copyright in your photo or video.

If you have truly unique footage of historic importance, TV companies will come knocking on your door, asking to use your footage, for ever more. In exactly the same way they do for classic BBC comedy clips.