Image use

I receive many requests to use my photos for free for various projects, even high-end commercial ones. Please understand that I cannot do it, and that it would be highly disrespectful towards those who pay licensing fees for my photos. Please do not insult me by begging for free photos, or by offering just credit or exposure in return. As a rule of thumb I recommend embracing this simple approach:

Always contact before use.

No free photos or videos for commercial use, sorry.

Now that we got this out of our way, here is my image use policy, arranged by context of intended use:

Commercial Use

Images intended for commercial use and distribution are subject to a licensing fee. License fees for commercial uses vary depending on the intended medium of the image. Examples of commercial use include: company web pages, news articles, product labels, books, merchandise, magazines, apps, educational products, etc’.
Contact me at info[at]gilwizen.com for a quote. Please include the following information with your inquiry:

Where the image will be used: Online, print, app, ebook, TV.

What is the intended use: Advertisement, marketing, editorial, etc’.

Target market: countries for which the license is applicable (worldwide is the most common option).

Circulation/viewership

Frequency of publication: Daily, weekly, monthly, annually

Size of reproduction:

For print: dimensions on page (1/4, ½, full, double page spread, cover page)

Online: Image width and height (in pixels) for your website.
* In most cases, images intended for online use will be watermarked. Size of watermark can be adjusted by request. Cropping, resizing or compressing the image are not allowed. Please give specific requirements when requesting an image!

Duration of the license: How long you need the license for. A typical use is for a year or two, but not unlimited in time.

License fees vary depending on the use, but generally fall between $85 and $700 per image. Fees are sometimes negotiable and I do make discounts for multiple images. Exclusive options are also possible for some images. “Unlimited” use, “perpetual” or “royalty free” use, however, are not an option.

Non-Commercial Use

Please contact me at info[at]gilwizen.com to request permission for use. No reply means no permission.
For non-commercial purposes, the images have to be attributed to Gil Wizen and a link to www.gilwizen.com has to be provided. Any form of manipulation to the image is strictly prohibited. Original watermarks must be retained and must not be modified. The image must not show visible loss of image quality compared to the original (usually happens when images are resized, or re-saved in highly compressed format).
I reserve the right to refuse permission and issue DMCA takedown requests against image use that violates any of the above, or if the images are used in any context deemed inappropriate in my opinion.

Non-commercial use includes the following:

Non-Profit Organizations

Registered non-profit organizations may be able to license my images at discounted rates, or free of charge, depending on the context of use. Please contact me for a quote. Prior permission is required. Please note that any distribution of my images, such as use in a magazine or a brochure requires a licensing agreement and payment of a licensing fee.

Educational Use

Please note that videos uploaded to video sharing platforms (such as YouTube, Vimeo, and similar websites), online streaming services (such as Twitch, Nebula, and similar websites), or social media platforms do not fall under “Educational Use” even if the video is educational. Refer to “Social Media – Personal” and “Video Use” below for more details.
Educational classroom use by students, teachers, and researchers is free and does not require prior permission. If the project involves posting photographs online (as PowerPoint presentations, pdf files, or image files) images must be accompanied by a credit to Gil Wizen and a link back to www.gilwizen.com.
Uploading my photographs to online projects that apply a blanket Creative Commons Attribution License are strictly prohibited without my prior permission. This includes sites like Wikipedia, Wikispecies, Wikimedia Commons and other similar sites.

Conference Presentations

Participants of academic conferences are welcome to use my photographs in presentations and posters without prior permission. I require images to be accompanied by a credit. This does not include related commercial uses such as advertising research equipment or an image promoting a conference.

Journal Articles/Technical Papers

Use of my photographs in the scientific literature requires licensing at the minimal rate (to cover only my own production expenses). Prior inquiry is required, as some journals have copyright policies that I do not agree with (such as applying the Creative Commons Attribution License to images).

Press Releases and news articles

Use of my images or video clips is not allowed without my prior permission and a signed licensing agreement. Please contact me with inquiries about using my copyrighted material in news articles or airing on TV. License fees will be discussed and determined individually, but depend on circulation/viewership, video format, and duration of use.

Social Media – Commercial

Use of my photographs on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and similar platforms) by commercial entities follows the same rules as “Commercial Use” (see above) and is subject to a licensing fee.

Social Media – Personal

This use includes personal websites, social media pages, video sharing platforms, or blogs that do not promote anything that you sell and no money is involved anywhere aside from hosting and domain fees. Commercial websites offering products or services (including news companies) are not considered personal media.
Personal blogs and web pages are welcome to use my photographs, however I request that you contact me first to obtain permission. All images must be accompanied by a credit to Gil Wizen and a link back to www.gilwizen.com. The same applies to incorporating my images within your personal online video clips and vlogs (for example on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). Links to my photographs on this website and on my social media accounts can be shared via “share” button on social media platforms. Reposting my images in your personal account or album is unacceptable (this includes Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Imgur, and similar websites). Failure to follow these simple rules will result in a DMCA takedown notice to the web host.

Video Use

My online video clips (YouTube) can be embedded on almost any website, be shown in class, or in a presentation. The video must be accompanied by a credit to Gil Wizen and in the case of websites, a link back to www.gilwizen.com. If the video is a part of a scientific paper, a proper citation is required followed by a link back to its web page on the journal’s website.
While I allow embedding of my online videos, other options are not free. Any use of my images and video clips on video sharing platforms (such as YouTube, Vimeo, and similar websites), online streaming services (such as Twitch, Nebula, and similar websites), or social media platforms requires prior permission and licensing.
No derivatives are allowed: my images and videos cannot be edited or adapted for your purposes without my permission. You cannot put your own channel watermark on my copyright-protected material. Uploading my images and videos to other online platforms or duplicating them on YouTube or Vimeo is prohibited and will be followed by a DMCA takedown notice. Please contact me with inquiries about using my copyrighted material in your videos. License fees will be discussed and determined individually, but depend on viewership, video format, and duration of use.

Derivative Artworks

Direct derivatives (cropping, resizing, editing, making illustrations by tracing my photograph) are not allowed. Prior permission is required to copy all or parts of my images in derivative artworks. I reserve the rights to determine what adaptation is considered Fair Use and what requires a licensing agreement.

Copyright Infringement Policy

Unauthorized non-commercial uses of my copyrighted images, videos, and text are subject to DMCA takedown requests without advance notice.

Unauthorized commercial infringements of my copyrighted images, videos, and text will be met with invoices covering my regular commercial-use fees plus a $50 infringement handling fee per image. There will also be additional infringement fees if the original image watermark had been removed or hidden. Infringement invoices are non-negotiable, and non-payment of infringement invoices will result in legal action to recover statutory damages.

In the case of a copyright strike on behalf of an online platform where the infringing material was posted, I will ignore requests to retract the copyright claim unless the material is licensed properly and the accompanying fees are paid in full.

I reserve the rights to issue takedown notices for my images, videos, and text, even if prior permission was granted, if the context of the use or situation changes in an unacceptable manner.

All of the images, videos, and text on www.gilwizen.com belong to Gil Wizen unless stated otherwise and are copyrights protected.