These Freelance Terms relate to The Independent, the Independent on Sunday, i, www.independent.co.uk and other paper and online publications owned by Independent Print Limited or Independent Digital News and Media (IDNM) (jointly and separately referred to in these Terms as 'the Company').
The Company is happy to publish material which is supplied by freelance contributors; it is showcased in our titles daily and appreciated worldwide by our readers and users of our websites.
Freelance contributors should be aware that the Freelance Terms are the terms of business that will apply to all material you provide to us however supplied - commissioned, sent on spec or any other arrangement.
These Freelance Terms will not be varied, the only exception to that would be in the event that a Director of the Company has expressly agreed in writing to a variation. If any freelance is not happy with the Freelance Terms then they should not offer us any material or accept a commission from us. Any material supplied to us for publication is deemed to have been supplied in full knowledge and acceptance of these Freelance Terms.
A) RIGHTS IN THE MATERIAL
It is very important for both parties that there is a clear understanding early on over who can exercise which rights in the material. As is the case with other publishers, we need to have certain rights to allow us to make further use of the contents of the newspaper titles and websites.
One example is that since the early days of the internet we have put the contents of the paper online, on our own websites, and supplied it to those of other third party hosts. This gives our material much greater exposure and ensures that the quality writing the Company publishes is widely available to interested readers on a variety of websites.
We also supply our contents to a range of newspapers, magazines, websites, on mobile and tablet apps, and other media outlets, and license rights to a range of third parties.
Contributors will note that apart from the right of first publication, which has to be ours exclusively, all the Company's other rights are non-exclusive: this means that contributors can also exploit the material themselves.
Rights Terms:
1. You retain copyright
2. The Company has the following rights, which are worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable and sub-licensable, and are exclusive for one year from the date of delivery of your contribution and non-exclusive thereafter:
2.1 the right to first publication in any medium;
2.2 the right to syndicate, distribute, license, republish or retransmit the material in all present and future media and formats, including print, electronic, online, telephony, mobile and tablet apps and all others; and.
2.3 the rights in the title, format and any pseudonym used in respect of your contribution.
3. In addition we also have the following non-exclusive rights:
3.1 the right to store your contribution in any database or archive in any present or future media or format. You are free to store and allow access to your contribution on databases for personal purposes provided nothing competes or conflicts with the rights you have granted us; and
3.2 the right to translate, amend, cut or alter your material as we think appropriate.
4. You will be paid an all-inclusive fee for the rights granted above (including the syndication rights in 2.2) but in the case of one-off syndication of an individual contribution to an end-user customer for print publication you will additionally receive 50% of the net revenue received.
The exercise by you of any of these rights is conditional on it not leading to any conflict of interest with the Company, and to your procuring a proper acknowledgement to the Company and its product is given on any further use of your material together where possible with a link to the material on the Company's website.
You agree that we can use an image of you in association with your material for purposes of publicity, promotion and any other activity related to the exercise of our rights under these Terms.
B) PAYMENT
IPL operates a self billing system for the payment of freelance contributions. New contributors should supply their payment details and email address to the commissioning editor or the person to whom they have arranged to supply their material, on the first occasion of supply. Unless any other rate or fee is agreed at the time of commission/ agreement any payment will be made at the Company's prevailing rates
Payment will be made at the end of the month following the month of publication of the contribution.
C) EDITORIAL STANDARDS
The reputation of the Independent brand, in the UK and around the world, is based on the editorial independence, integrity and high journalistic standards of our publications. Anyone who supplies material to any of our publications must ensure that their conduct and the material they submit are ethical, legal and proper. In particular they should comply in full with the Press Complaints Commission Code of Practice ( www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html), keeping themselves updated on all developments of the Code and its application. You agree to cooperate fully with the Company should any complaint be made about your material.
We have our own Code of Conduct (www.independent.co.uk/codeofconduct) and it is a condition of our agreement to consider your Material that you comply with its terms. You should read it and take whatever action is necessary to ensure you are and remain fully compliant. One matter in our Code that requires immediate action is that you must tell us about any potential conflict of interest, whether actual or potential, as well as anything which could possibly be perceived as such. You should raise any issue, preferably in writing by email to the person with whom you have contact in the Company.
It is also a term of acceptance of your material that you agree to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. For a note on how this relates to journalistic activities see www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html.
If you have any query on these points, or uncertainty about any aspect of conduct or the material you are submitting, you should email it to lawyers@independent.co.uk.
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