Economic value image sector

The Image Rights Federation, founded in 2022, presented the results of a study on the economic value of the image sector in mid-February. A key issue for image creators is the lack of those fair fees for the use of copyrighted images by content platforms and social media.

Despite the deteriorating financialële position of image makers, the image sector provides added value of 3.4 billion to the Dutch economy, accounting for over 18 percent of the value added by the entire cultural and creative sector and thirty percent of employment. However, the earning power of the image sector is lower than might be expected based on employment. This is due to the large number of active image makers in the market. They compete with each other, which does not help their negotiating position vis-à-vis their clients. Creators settle for a modest fee. Even digital exploitation of images, including by the major content platforms, does not improve the economic position of many image makers.

Download the study Value of Image, Image of Value here