Who owns the copyright in your photographs, what you are free to do with your images, and how we use our work. These terms apply to every shoot we take on.
Last updated: 28 July 2026
These booking terms apply to every shoot booked with Rev and Render Studios. They set out who owns the copyright in the photographs and video we produce for you, and what each of us may do with that work.
They are separate from our Terms of Use, which govern the website itself. Where a written quote or agreement we send you says something different, that document takes precedence over this page for that specific booking.
We will always flag anything unusual to you before a shoot rather than leave it buried here.
Under section 21(1)(c) of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978, whoever commissions and pays for a photograph owns the copyright in it by default. Section 21(1)(e) of the same Act allows that default to be excluded by agreement.
These terms are that agreement. Copyright is allocated as set out in the table below, and not according to the default rule.
What this means in practice depends on the kind of work. Personal shoots stay with us so we can keep building a portfolio; commercial commissions where you need to own the asset transfer to you.
| Type of shoot | Copyright owner | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Couple Shoots | Rev and Render Studios | A permanent licence for unlimited personal use |
| Studio Portraits | Rev and Render Studios | A permanent licence for unlimited personal use, including professional profiles such as LinkedIn |
| Events | Rev and Render Studios | A permanent licence for personal use, plus promotion of your own event or organisation |
| Cars & Bikes — private owner | Rev and Render Studios | A permanent licence for personal use and your own social media |
| Cars & Bikes — dealership or brand | You, on full payment | Full ownership and unrestricted commercial use |
| Real Estate | You, on full payment | Full ownership and unrestricted commercial use for the listing and your agency's marketing |
Not sure which row applies to your shoot? Ask us before you book and we will confirm it in writing.
Where copyright transfers to you, we keep a limited, non-exclusive licence to display the work in our own portfolio and marketing — see section 6. Everything else passes to you.
For the shoot types where copyright passes to you, transfer happens automatically once the booking has been paid in full. No further paperwork is needed.
Until full payment is received, we retain copyright and all rights in the work. Files supplied before then are provided for review only and may not be published, listed, or used commercially.
Where a shoot is cancelled or left unpaid, no rights transfer at all, and any files already sent to you must not be used.
Where we retain copyright, the licence you receive is permanent, worldwide, and cannot be revoked provided the booking has been paid. You never need to ask us again, and you never pay a further fee for the uses below.
If you booked us for an event or as a business, your licence also covers promoting that event or organisation:
Where the table in section 2 shows that copyright transfers to you, none of these limits apply. The work is yours to use commercially however you wish.
Where we retain copyright, the following stay with us:
None of these are meant to catch you out. If a use you want falls outside your licence, ask — we grant extended rights routinely and often at no cost.
Showing our work is how we get the next booking, so we ask to use images from your shoot in our portfolio, on this website, and on our social media.
This is optional and always separate from your booking. Declining costs you nothing — not in price, not in service, not in the images you receive. You can also limit it, for example website portfolio only and no social media.
You may withdraw consent at any time. Email us and we will remove the images from this website and from any social account we control, normally within seven working days.
Where copyright transfers to you under section 2, this portfolio licence is the one right we keep. It is non-exclusive, applies only to our own marketing, and never allows us to sell your images or license them onward.
Withdrawing consent does not oblige us to recall material already printed, published by a third party, or shared onward by others — but we will always remove whatever remains under our control.
Photographs of identifiable people are personal information under POPIA, and consent to publish them belongs to the people in the frame — not to whoever paid for the shoot.
Your licence to use images of other people is subject to the same principle: it does not override their right to object to how their image is used.
Edited images and video are delivered as a digital gallery, in full resolution, in standard formats suitable for both print and screen.
We deliver a curated, edited selection rather than everything captured on the day. Frames that are out of focus, poorly timed, duplicated, or technically unusable are not part of the delivery, and selecting which images make the final set is part of the work you are commissioning.
We archive delivered galleries so that we can send them to you again if you lose the files. This is a courtesy rather than a guarantee, so please keep your own backup of anything you care about.
If you would prefer that we delete your files after delivery, tell us and we will. Where copyright has transferred to you, ask and we will confirm in writing what we have deleted.
A credit to Rev and Render Studios is always appreciated but never required for personal use.
Under section 20 of the Copyright Act, the photographer keeps the right to be identified as author and to object to distortion or mutilation of the work that would be prejudicial to their reputation. These moral rights stay with the photographer even where copyright transfers to you.
Colour grading and editing are part of what you are paying for, and the delivered look is the finished work.
Cropping for a profile picture or a social media format is entirely fine. Please do not apply heavy filters, re-grade, or otherwise materially alter our images and then present them as our work — that is what the moral rights above protect against.
If the edit is not what you hoped for, tell us. We would far rather adjust it ourselves than have the work go out looking like something we did not produce.
Where a shoot takes place somewhere that requires permission — a private venue, an estate, a managed property, or a paid location — arranging and paying for that access is the client's responsibility unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
For property shoots, we take it that the person booking has the owner's authority to have the property photographed and the resulting images published.
If you need more than your licence allows — a commercial campaign built on a personal shoot, a sponsor wanting to use event images, or a full transfer of copyright on work we would ordinarily retain — we can almost always arrange it.
Email us with what you have in mind. Extended rights are confirmed in writing, and small extensions are often granted at no charge.
How we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms. It covers what we collect, how long we keep it, and the rights you have under POPIA.
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Nothing here limits any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or other law that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Anything here that is unclear, or a use you are unsure about — just ask. We would rather answer up front than have you guess.