General terms and conditions for clients
Fairpicture AG (hereinafter referred to as "Fairpicture") has its registered office at Spitalgasse 28 in CH-3011 Bern. Fairpicture offers services for the procurement of photographs and videos to civil society and public sector organisations, international organisations as well as private companies and media (hereinafter referred to as “client”). For this purpose, Fairpicture maintains a worldwide network of professional local photographers and videographers (hereinafter referred to as “visual creators”) and commissions them photo and video projects as individuals or collectively.
The present General Terms and Conditions (GT&Cs) refer to the relationship between the client and Fairpicture as the contractor when using Fairpicture’s services. They are an integral part of all contracts that Fairpicture concludes with visual creators.
1. Fairpicture Services
Possible services of Fairpicture are in particular:
1.1 Establishment and maintenance of a global network of professional local visual creators;
1.2 Provision of a platform with standardised processes for editing photo, film and video projects;
1.3 Procurement of photographs, films and videos by commissioning professional local visual creators;
1.4 Organisation of additional services such as text work, transcription, translation or subtitling;
1.5 Project management;
1.6 Provision of information for local partner organisations with regard to photo, film and video projects;
1.7 Sensitisation of the visual creators to safety and security concerns;
1.8 Development and mandatory implementation of the Fairpicture Code of Conduct;
1.9 Control of the meta information on content and context required by Fairpicture in accordance with the IPTC standard;
1.10 Provision of the instruments (analogue and digital) for obtaining the declaration of consent of the photographed/filmed persons in accordance with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
1.11 Quality control of the visual material before delivery;
1.12 Timely payment of the fees for the visual creators;
1.13 Other services in the area of sensitisation, further training, communication and campaign consulting.
2. Fee, payment, cancellation, and cancellation fee
Unless otherwise agreed in individual contracts/agreements/arrangements, the following shall apply:
2.1 The number of working days available and to be paid for by the client for travelling, shooting and post-production shall be specified in the project confirmation from Fairpicture, including the applicable rates. The same applies to lump sum expenses and actual expenses incurred.
2.2 Post-production includes the selection and processing of the visual material as well as the provision of consent forms and standard metadata in accordance with the Fairpicture Post-production Guidelines.
2.3 Additional services by Fairpicture such as text work, transcription, translation or subtitling shall be invoiced additionally according to the time and effort involved, unless they have already been explicitly offered as part of the post-production and recorded in the project confirmation.
2.4 Other additional advisory services offered by Fairpicture in the areas of sensitisation, further training, communication and campaign advice will be invoiced separately by Fairpicture where applicable.
2.5 Fairpicture shall be compensated by the client with a fee that corresponds to a fixed percentage of the fee for the travel, shooting and post-production days of the visual creator. Fairpicture shall show this fee separately on the offer and on the project confirmation.
2.6 Fairpicture reserves the right to invoice up to 40 percent of the costs agreed between the client and Fairpicture immediately after being commissioned with the project. The remaining percentages of the costs shall be invoiced after completion of the project or in the further course of the project.
2.7 If the client cancels the project
2.7.1 up to 15 days prior to the beginning of the travel or photo/film activity of the visual creator, a total of 50 percent of the agreed fee amount as compensation for the visual creator as well as an additional 50 percent of Fairpicture's fee according to section 2.v. as compensation for Fairpicture shall be due for immediate payment;
2.7.2 14 to 8 days prior to the beginning of the travel or photo/film activity of the visual creator, a total of 75 percent of the agreed fee amount as compensation for the visual creator as well as an additional 75 percent of Fairpicture’s fee according to section 2.v. as compensation for Fairpicture shall be due for immediate payment;
2.7.3 less than 8 days prior to the beginning of the travel or photo/film activity of the visual creator, a total of 100 percent of the agreed fee amount as compensation for the visual creator as well as an additional 100 percent of Fairpicture’s fee according to section 2.v. as compensation for Fairpicture shall be due for immediate payment.
2.8 Expenses already transacted (e.g. car rentals, airline tickets, accommodation), which are not reimbursed, will be fully paid by the client in the event of cancellation, regardless of the time of cancellation.
2.9 If a date shift initiated by the client after commissioning the project to Fairpicture leads to a loss of the project for the visual creator, the client shall owe the visual creator a cancellation fee of 50 percent of the agreed fee amount.
2.10 Unless otherwise agreed, the payment period shall be 10 days from the date of invoice.
3. Safety regulations during projects
3.1 During the project, the visual creator is subject to any safety regulations and structures of Fairpicture's client. The client or an appointed representative may issue instructions to the visual creator for safety reasons.
3.2 Any local contact person of Fairpicture's client and Fairpicture itself shall be informed immediately by the visual creator if difficulties arise during the performance of the project (e.g. accidents, safety issues, inability to work, harassment or other incidents).
3.3. Fairpicture proceeds on the principle that no picture is worth a life. Therefore, Fairpicture does not create any incentive with hazard pay of any kind.
4. Liability
4.1 The visual creator is a contractor of Fairpicture and is therefore responsible for the coverage of all insurance payments (e.g. social security, illness, accident and repatriation). The corresponding responsibility does not lie with the client or with Fairpicture.
4.2 Neither the client nor Fairpicture are liable for damages incurred by the visual creator during the project.
4.3 Neither the client nor Fairpicture are liable for damage caused to third parties by the visual creator during the project.
4.4 Neither the visual creator nor Fairpicture are liable for damage caused by the client's use of the visual material created during the project.
4.5 Fairpicture gives no assurance that the visual material supplied to the client is compatible with other materials.
4.6 Fairpicture gives no assurance that all photographs and videos contain the complete metadata.
4.7 Fairpicture strives to obtain a declaration of consent from all persons photographed/filmed, as far as practicable in individual cases. However, it does not guarantee that this is always the case. It is not practicable to obtain the consent of all persons photographed/filmed, e.g. when filming a crowd of people.
5. Copyrights and rights of use
5.1 The copyrights and rights of use are regulated in the individual contracts.
5.2 All parties entitled to use the visual material must always name the parties involved when using it. The credits must always have the following form: "Photo/video: Visual creator/Client/Fairpicture".
5.3 Visual material may not be published in a way that portrays the persons depicted in an inaccurately negative or unfavorable light, ridicules them or causes them to be disparaged.
6. Rights of the persons photographed/filmed
6.1 All persons photographed and/or filmed
6.1.1 have the right to their own image;
6.1.2 shall be informed by the visual creator and/or the client or an appointed representative about the content, purpose and possible publication of the photo and/or video material, as far as practicable in the individual case. The visual creator and the client shall consult each other in this respect;
6.1.3 are asked by the visual creator to give their explicit informed consent to the photograph and/or video as well as to the use of it via the declaration of consent in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as far as practicable in the individual case. Fairpicture will provide the digital and analogue tools necessary to obtain informed consent.
6.2 If children (or adults with a legal guardian) are photographed or filmed, the informed consent of the parent or legal guardian is required.
6.3 If children (or adults with a legal guardian) are photographed or filmed at school or in institutions, the consent of the school or institution management is sufficient if the parents or legal guardians are informed in advance and if individual children or adults with a legal guardian who are not to be photographed or filmed have the option to stay away from the shoot.
6.4 All persons photographed and/or filmed may withdraw their consent to the use of their image at any time.
6.4.1 the visual creator, Fairpicture and Fairpicture’s client shall be obliged to sort out, delete or archive the affected visual material in their possession in such a way that any further publication is excluded;
6.4.2 the visual creator, Fairpicture and Fairpicture's client are obliged to do everything in their power to withdraw affected photographs and videos published online and to ensure that the visual material of the persons concerned is no longer available to the public, either in print form or online.
6.5 The provisions of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) apply.
7. Other Regulations
The client undertakes, with immediate effect and for a period of five years from the conclusion of the project, not to conduct any business with photographers who have been suggested and/or arranged by Fairpicture or who have been commissioned by Fairpicture for a project, without the involvement of Fairpicture.
8. Acknowledgement of the General Terms and Conditions
By explicitly accepting these General Terms and Conditions (which are submitted when accepting Fairpicture's offer on the Fairpicture platform or by email), the client confirms that they have taken note of the content of these GT&Cs and fully agree to their validity.
9. Applicable law and place of jurisdiction
Swiss law applies to the relationship between Fairpicture and the client. The ordinary courts of the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the settlement of disputes, irrespective of the parties' place of business or residence.
– Bern, September 2022