Do not endanger yourself or others, take any risks or break any laws when creating content you may share with SWNS.
SWNS Contributed Content: Agreement and Licence
Please read these Terms carefully before providing any Contributed Content to SWNS, as we cannot, for operational reasons, guarantee that any Contributed Content will not be published before you have had a chance to change your mind. If you do not agree with these Terms, then you should not share or submit any Contributed Content to SWNS.
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact the SWNS Picture Desk by email at pix@swns.com or by phone on +44(0)117 906 6550.
These terms and conditions (Terms) set out the basis on which you, the contributor (you/ Contributor) agree to share or submit your own original text, photographs, graphics, audio or video content (Contributed Content) to South West News Service Limited (SWNS/we/us).
1. License of Contributed Content
1.1 You hereby grant to SWNS a non-exclusive licence (the Licence) to all the rights you hold in the Contributed Content, under which SWNS may use the Contributed Content in any way that SWNS may reasonably decide, in any form or media throughout the world for the duration of this Agreement (for Termination, see Clause 5). This includes, without limitation, the right to sell, licence, distribute and publish the Contributed Content on any platform or publication chosen by SWNS to best maximise the revenue potential of the Contributed Content (including, without limitation, on video platforms, non paying regional news publishers and SWNS owned websites). You also agree that SWNS may grant further licences to other parties (including, without limitation, other news agencies and media outlets) to use the Contributed Content on similar terms.
1.2 You represent and warrant:
a) that the Contributed Content belongs to you, and
b) you are the holder of all rights in the Contributed Content, including but not limited to copyright; and
c) you have the right to share or submit the Contributed Content to SWNS; and
d) that the content and/or information you have provided to SWNS is factually correct/true; and
e) you have the authority to enter into this Agreement, and to grant the Licence.
1.3 You acknowledge and agree that SWNS enters into this Agreement in reliance upon the representations and warranties set out in Clause 1.2.
1.4 Unless agreed otherwise in writing, the Licence is granted on a non-exclusive basis from signature of this agreement, after which you agree you will not share or submit the Contributed Content to third parties including digital or printed publications, news organisations, or rights agencies without informing SWNS. This will enable SWNS to best protect your interests and maximise the revenue potential of the Contributed Content.
1.5 You agree that SWNS has the right, at its absolute discretion, to take such legal action as it considers necessary against any person who it believes is infringing or has infringed the rights granted by the Licence.
1.6 You agree the Contributed Content is not now, and will not at any future date become subject of any licence or similar arrangement with any third party which would prevent SWNS exercising the rights granted by the Licence. This includes but is not limited to licence agreements with digital or printed publications, licensing or news agencies, copyright infringement services, or any other distributor of media content.
1.7 If you are in breach of any of the warranties set out in Clause 1.2, without prejudice to any other right it may have, SWNS may withhold payment of any revenue which may have been due to you.
1.8 Nothing in this Agreement prevents the Contributed Content being posted or remaining on your personal social media pages. It will help SWNS monetise your content and help you manage sales enquiries if you include the following on the post or page where you have shared your content: ** This content is being exclusively managed by SWNS. To licence for editorial or commercial use please contact licensing@swns.com +44 (0) 1179066550 **
2. Payment
2.1 SWNS generates revenue through individual sales of content, and through high volume aggregated pricing arrangements, these are designed to increase contributor revenue. The revenue paid to you will depend on which of these methods was used to generate revenue:
a) Individual sales:- SWNS shall pay you fifty per cent (50%) of all individual sales of the Contributed Content on a syndicated basis. This includes but is not limited to sales to newspapers, websites, magazines, social media platforms, TV stations and TV production companies. It will be the responsibility of SWNS at all times to use its network of customers to maximise the revenue potential of the Contributed Content on your behalf.
b) High volume, aggregated pricing arrangements:- in respect of Contributed Content published as part of these arrangements, the amount due to you will be determined at SWNS’s sole discretion based on the relative value of each asset within the total number of assets licensed together. Where the relative value of an asset within an aggregated deal falls below the point where it is cost effective for SWNS to add them to the SWNS.live website there will be no contributor payment made on that sale.
2.2 You acknowledge that publication of Contributed Content on SWNS’s owned, operated and/or controlled channels, including but not limited to, Yahoo, Daily Motion, MSN, nationaldailypress.com, and including without limitation social media and SWNS agents’ e-commerce websites (SWNS Channels) is for promotion and marketing purposes, and to generate future sales. You agree that no payment is due to you in respect to such use.
2.3 Payment which may be in respect of revenue generated on a syndicated basis, SWNS will use its reasonable efforts to pay any sums to you within 28 days of SWNS receiving payment from such party or sooner wherever that is practically possible.
2.4 SWNS will use reasonable efforts to provide you with details of any sales of the Contributed Content when processing any payments due to you via its SWNS.live platform. SWNS cannot provide copies of invoices raised by SWNS for any Contributed Content.
2.5 All payments must be claimed within six months of being added to your SWNS.live account, and will be made by PayPal (to the PayPal registered email supplied by you) or by bank transfer to UK registered banks only (to the bank account number and sort code provided by you). Any payment not claimed in the timescale set out in this Clause 2.5 may be forfeit.
2.6 Rarely, there may be circumstances in which SWNS cannot offer any payment for Contributed Content, for example, if this would breach anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws or if this would breach the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) Editors’ Code of Practice
2.7 You are responsible for accounting for any tax due on money that you receive from SWNS under this and any other agreement. You indemnify and hold harmless SWNS on a continuing basis against any liability, including but not limited to any interest, penalties or costs incurred, which is levied, demanded or assessed on SWNS at any time in respect of any delay or failure on your part to account for or to pay any tax in respect of any payments made to you under this Agreement.
3. Contributor’s Warranties
3.1 You represent and warrant that to the best of your knowledge the Contributed Content:
a) is not defamatory, obscene or otherwise unlawful in any way; and
b) has not been the subject of any actual or threatened court or other legal proceedings in any jurisdiction; and
c) does not infringe the rights of any person, including but not limited to their intellectual property rights; and
d) complies in all respects with the United Kingdom Data Protection Act 2018, and UK GDPR, and that you have the consent of anyone who is identifiable in the Contributed Content or if any person is under the age of 16, the consent of their parent or guardian.
4. Publication, Editorial Control, and Credit
4.1 SWNS may:
a) cut, crop, edit or otherwise modify the Contributed Content in any way for editorial and operational reasons; and
b) at its sole discretion, and without liability, remove any Contributed Content entirely if you breach any of the warranties in Clause 3, or if SWNS reasonably believes the Contributed Content does not comply with these Terms or any of them.
4.2 SWNS does not undertake to use any Contributed Content, nor does it undertake that any party to whom SWNS has licensed or otherwise transferred rights in the Contributed Content will publish it.
4.3 Contributed Content will be distributed with a byline in the format “[Your Name] / SWNS” unless you request otherwise. Use of the byline is however at the absolute discretion of the publisher and SWNS cannot therefore guarantee that you will receive credit for any Contributed Content.
5. Term and Termination
5.1 This agreement commences on the date it is signed and shall continue in full force and effect until either you or SWNS terminates it in writing in accordance with Clause 5.2.
5.2 Either you or SWNS may terminate this agreement at any time, by giving not less than 28 days’ notice in writing.
5.3 It is the intention of the Parties that any:
a) license or sub-licence granted by SWNS; and/or
b) sale, publication, distribution by SWNS; and/or
c) other use whatsoever SWNS may have made;
in or of the Contributed Content prior to termination of this Agreement shall survive such termination and any licence or sub-licence shall remain in full force and effect throughout the world in perpetuity.
5.4 All rights granted to SWNS prior to termination of this Agreement remain vested in SWNS in perpetuity and may not be transferred by you to any other person.
5.5 Upon termination of this Agreement:
5.6 SWNS will cease to distribute, sell or publish the content and will cease all marketing activity in respect of the content, and
5.7 SWNS will continue to collect revenue earned for agreements made prior to the termination date, and
5.8 SWNS will pay all revenues due to you under the terms of this licence that were accrued prior to the termination date according to the payment terms outlined in this agreement.
6. Privacy
6.1 Our Privacy Policy contains important information about how we process your personal information, and your rights in relation to that processing. The policy may be viewed at www.swns.com/privacy-policy.
7. Other important terms
7.1 SWNS is the trading name of South West News Services Limited, a limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 6561578 having its registered office at Media Centre, Emma-Chris Way, Filton, Bristol BS34 7JU, United Kingdom.
7.2 When these Terms refer to any matter being agreed “in writing”, this will include email.
7.3 SWNS may transfer its rights and obligations under these Terms to another organisation, but this will not affect your rights or SWNS’ obligations under these Terms.
7.4 These Terms and the agreement that they create is between you and SWNS. No other person will have any right to enforce these Terms.
7.5 Each paragraph of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or enforceable, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
7.6 If SWNS fails to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms, or if SWNS does not enforce its rights against you, or delays in doing so, that will not mean that SWNS has waived its rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If SWNS does waive a default by you, it will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that SWNS automatically waives any later default by you.
7.7 Any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms will be governed by English law. You and SWNS both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have non-exclusive jurisdiction to settle any disputes or claims.
Thank you for working with SWNS
