Copyright of our content
Though we retain copyright, we freely offer any resources on the Diocese of Gloucester website for reproduction in parish newsletters, parish magazines or parish or church websites. If you would like to distribute our media but are not directly affiliated with the Church of England (a ‘local digest’ magazine for example), please gain permission from our Communications department.
Avoiding legal difficulties
All images on the internet belong to someone. Using images (or any other media) you didn’t produce yourself is a breach of copyright. Using the image or video for non-profit purposes makes no difference; you are still at risk if you do not have permission to use images on your website or in your parish magazine. Legal settlement normally means a fine of around £1,500-£3,000 for breach of copyright. The simplest way to avoid legal difficulties is to search for ‘Creative Commons’ licensed images from a website like Flickr (select the “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content” option in an advanced search). You could also purchase images from a stock imagery website, or even take the photos yourself – you automatically own copyright of your own photos.
Photos
How to capture your story with photos & video
Advice from the CofE: taking great photos
Please share your photos and use ours to share the good news! We have set up a Facebook group where you can upload your photos and videos for people across the Diocese to view and download. For use in your communications, websites etc. Please remember to tell people if publicity photos are going to be taken.
Safeguarding
- You cannot take photos or videos of children without written consent
- The consent must cover where you will use it
- You should not share others photo or videos without consent
- You must have secure storage for them.
Permission
Photo-video-consent-form – please edit this with the name of your setting.
Our shared photos on Facebook
Our Youtube channel
Sharing videos
Any videos produced by the Diocese of Gloucester are free to reproduce, show and distribute. Please contact the Communications department with any queries.
Filming in churches
If you are approached by a company wanting to film in or around your church, please follow the guidelines below.
The Communications Department are happy to advise if you are unsure on what decision to make. It would also be appreciated if you keep the Department informed of any filming taking place.
Category
Ask whether the filming is for
- high-end drama
- UK feature film
- co-production feature
- news piece to camera
- documentary drama reconstruction
- documentary piece to camera
- a photographic shoot.
This will have a direct bearing on the facility fee to charge (see Fees below)
Story
Ask for a synopsis of the story. This will give you an overview of the finished programme and allow you to judge whether or not it is harmful to the Church.
Time
Ask how long the church is required for. Broadly speaking, a news item where the subject is a Church of England matter and the editor simply wants to use the church as background would take a short time. However, for a feature film or drama, the church might need to be lit and possibly rigged before filming could start and de-rigged at the end.
The word ‘day’ is often used. You should be clear about what constitutes a day so you can charge if the company overruns its time. A filming ‘day’ is always 12 hours. The Location Manager or Scout will always suggest filming days, but will not know about preparation or strike (clearing up) until much nearer the time. Only when they get as far as the final draft of the script, when the Art Department are brought in, will they know how long each scene will take to dress and what is required to do it. At that point the Location Department will get a schedule of works which will include number of days or half days to prep, and a rough idea of how long to strike. Generally strike time is not known until the day of prep.
Facilities
Ask whether the production company will need to use other facilities such as the hall or car park. If filming is likely to be lengthy, discuss loo facilities, dressing room areas etc. Use of your hall or car park for such things can be used as bargaining tools when you negotiate the fee.
Also ask the production company what they have organised for parking. If it is on a street with restrictions they will need to have gained local authority traffic department approval. The Location Manager will not discuss this with the owner/incumbent of a potential building location. The Unit Manager (with the supervision of the Production Manager) is responsible for logistics. The Location Manager or Scout will only advise and take photographs – the rest is done back at the production company headquarters.
Supervision
It is advisable to ensure someone is present during the filming. If it is a day-long shoot, or longer, two people may be needed. They need to know what agreements you have made with those filming. Generally we advise one person ‘supervising’ per 75 members of filming crew.
Layout
Ask what changes, if any, are proposed to the way the church is laid out.
If fixed items need to be moved you are likely to need a faculty. If in doubt please contact the DAC.
Church Services
News or documentary makers often wish to film a service, for example a baptism or marriage, for a package they are putting together. In the case of such services you obviously need the permission of those involved. A film crew will often offer copies of the film in lieu of a fee for the couple. Under those circumstances the PCC is still entitled to a fee. For any service you need to agree what is to be filmed and where the cameras will be positioned so that the congregation is not distracted.
Insurance
It is the production company’s responsibility to ensure everything is fully insured. It is not the responsibility of the PCC to get extra filming insurance cover. Obviously you will have all the ‘normal’ insurance cover in place.
Fees
There is an enormous disparity in the amount of facility fee income available to historic properties. This is due to the wide variety of productions, size of crew, and budgets. More importantly, each project is entirely bespoke given that no two buildings are alike, and no two projects are alike. Therefore what follows is an indication only of the daily fees available – bearing in mind that duration, size of crew and more importantly, the area of your filming precinct, are all parameters that need to be factored into negotiations.
In scale of MINIMUM daily fees starting with the lowest:
News piece to camera (PTC) FREE
Documentary PTC £300 per day (usually per hour)
Documentary Drama Reconstruction £600 per day
Daytime Drama £750 per day
High-End Drama £850 per day
UK Feature & Photography £900 per day
Co-Production Feature £1,000 per day
Tri-Production Feature £1,250 per day
There are many variables that will increase these minimum fees, such as number of buildings involved in the shoot, overtime beyond the 12 hr day, compensation for potential loss of income or inconvenience.
Where news is concerned and all that is required is to use the church as background, the time is usually short and a fee would not normally be offered. Giving permission for such filming does much for goodwill and the upside is that the parish church frequently gets onto the news in a positive way.
