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FAQ category: Libraries

Yes, we always recommend you get professional indemnity.

Claims relating to copyright and intellectual property are rising and it’s easy for a third party to make an allegation of negligence or breach of intellectual property, even if the grounds are unfounded.

Professional indemnity covers your legal defence costs.

Recent changes to section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act have made libraries more responsible for ensuring all items and props in an image are not subject to copyright and do not require clearance.

We advise that all BAPLA members and professionals working in this industry have professional indemnity insurance, which offers vital protection when you hold large collections of images for which clearances might be required.

If you have any employees, it is compulsory in the UK to have employers’ liability. Even if you employ an extra pair of hands for a short period of time, such as assistants, you should always maintain employers’ liability.

Typically, we also suggest you consider cyber insurance to protect from hacker attacks, and if you have an office, you’ll probably need to insure your spaces and equipment too.

As a minimum, we would always suggest that a photographic library has professional indemnity insurance.

When a photographic library holds such a huge collection of images, it’s incredibly difficult to ever be 100% sure on the origin, authenticity and clearances obtained for any image. Unless one person has personally taken all images, which is not the case for most large libraries which have hundreds of contributors.

If a photographic library has employees, it also crucial that you have liability insurance to comply with the law. More often than not, libraries are also considering cyber insurance to protect from hacker attacks on their database and collection. In addition, if you have an office you may wish to insure the office, computers laptops etc.

As a minimum, we would always suggest that an image library has professional indemnity insurance.

When a library holds such a huge collection of images, it’s incredibly difficult to ever be 100% sure on the origin, authenticity and clearances obtained for any image. Unless one person has personally taken all images, which is not the case for most large libraries which have hundreds of contributors.

If a library has employees, it also crucial that you have liability insurance to comply with the law. More often than not, libraries are also considering cyber insurance to protect from hacker attacks on their database and collection. In addition, if you have an office you may wish to insure the office, computers laptops etc.

As a minimum, we would always suggest that a film library has professional indemnity insurance.

When a film library holds such a huge collection of footage, it’s incredibly difficult to ever be 100% sure on the origin, authenticity and clearances obtained for any clip. Unless one person has personally created all the footage, which is not the case for most large film libraries which have hundreds of contributors.

If a film library has employees, it also crucial that you have liability insurance to comply with the law. More often than not, libraries are also considering cyber insurance to protect from hacker attacks on their database and collection. In addition, if you have an office you may wish to insure the office, computers laptops etc.

Things go wrong, that’s life.

We have seen some quirky claims against libraires in the last few years. Some practical examples –

  • Allegations a prop in photograph was an antique designer item, that required clearance from the designer’s estate.
  • Allegations clearances were not obtained on a model in a photograph.
  • A cyber attack on a library which compromised their database.

Things go wrong, that’s life.

We have seen some quirky claims against libraires in the last few years. Some practical examples –

  • Allegations a prop in photograph was an antique designer item, that required clearance from the designer’s estate.
  • Allegations clearances were not obtained on a model in a photograph.
  • A cyber attack on a library which compromised their database.

Things go wrong, that’s life.

We have seen some quirky claims against film libraires in the last few years. Some practical examples –

  • Allegations a prop was an antique designer item, that required clearance from the designer’s estate.
  • Allegations clearances were not obtained on a model.
  • A cyber attack on a library which compromised their database.

A professional indemnity policy is designed to protect against any errors & omissions that may be made, and includes extensions that are very important for image libraries. These include infringement of intellectual property rights including copyright infringement, or importantly for image libraries, a breach of licence extension.

Professional indemnity covers you for allegations of mistakes and negligence.

It provides compensation to your client (or a third-party) in circumstances where you are liable due to professional negligence, and usually covers associated defence or legal costs.

Professional indemnity for image libraries usually includes extensions covering things like copyright infringement or a breach of licence extension too.

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