Back in April I highlighted how the Guardian, Hewlett Packard and Lonely Planet were grabbing a ‘worldwide irrevocable perpetual licence’ in entries to a photographic competition they were running.
Fifteen years ago, when I earned part of my living as a freelance photographer, the going rate for a cover shot on one of the small magazines that I worked for was £200. The magazine sold 12,000 copies each month and that payment gave the publisher the right to publish the image one time only.
Quality content and creativity are valuable things. If you need proof, just look at the millions of pounds that businesses earn from back catalogues of music, films, TV shows and news footage.