License or sell my photos to others
If you take good photographs — of your work, your process, your subject — other people will eventually want to use them: a magazine piece, someone's course slides, another maker's mood board. Today that means emails, guesswork about terms, and an invoice you have to chase.
Where this stands
This isn't live yet. Licensing your original photos and images out to others is a Beta bernard is actively considering. Open your Image Library and you'll find a License your originals tab — it explains the plan and has one button: Count me in. Pressing it registers your interest (no commitment, no charge), and the number of hands raised decides how much gets built.
What's planned
- You'd choose photos you own outright — your library already knows which those are.
- You'd set the terms: personal, editorial or commercial use, a credit line, a price.
- Bernard would do the paperwork: issue the licence, take the payment, keep the record of who licensed what.
- The same say-so rule as the rest of your library: nothing licensed without your approval.
Worth doing now
Only photos that are yours with clear rights could ever be licensed out. Open your Image Library, and if anything is marked Rights unknown, sort it — Am I allowed to use this photo? explains how. That tidying also protects your own site every time you publish.
The prompt
“Open my Image Library and show me which photos are marked as owned by me with rights cleared.”
The [bracketed] parts are yours to fill in. First time? Connect bernard to your AI over MCP — a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI — then paste the prompt above.
Questions people ask
- Can I sell or license my photos through bernard?
- Not yet. Licensing your original photos and images to others — magazines, course authors, other makers — is a Beta bernard is weighing up. There's a License your originals tab in your Image Library where you can register interest; how many owners put their hand up decides how much gets built.
- What would photo licensing look like when it opens?
- The plan: you pick photos you own outright, set the terms — personal, editorial or commercial use, a credit line, a price — and bernard issues the licence, takes the payment and keeps the record. The same rule as the rest of your library applies: nothing goes out without your approval.
- Is there anything worth doing before it opens?
- Yes — clear your image rights. Only photos marked as yours with rights cleared could ever be licensed out, so open your Image Library and deal with anything marked 'Rights unknown'. That housekeeping pays off on your own site today, too.