{{Unreferenced, date=May 2021
Reproduction fees are charged by image collections for the right to reproduce images in publications. This is not the same as a copyright fee, but is charged separately, as is the cost of the provision of the image. It can be charged where an image is out of copyright, and reflects the possession of the image by a collection.
Image collection charges vary according to the media (books, magazines, TV, Internet etc.), and print run. Some charge a lower fee for not-for-profit publications. In the case of the Web, none appear to grant use in perpetuity, but for small blocks of time — 3 months, 6 months, etc. Some institutions employ specialist firms to administer their copyrights and reproduction fees.
In recent years the money asked per image can be so great as to make the publication of limited-market topics un-viable, by the time the other production costs are factored in. This is likely to have a deleterious effect on the future health of specialist academic publishing worldwide. The expansion of
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
image resources appear to be the way of overcoming this problem.
On the other hand, the fees can help a collection to balance its finances.
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
works of art are not
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
able under
United States law
The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well a ...