Do you have personal or family photographs documenting everyday life in twentieth-century Britain?
The People’s Archive is developed and curated by British Culture Archive. We welcome photographs from across Britain’s communities, showing childhood, home, work, holidays, music, friendship and everyday experience.
BCA reviews submissions and selects photographs for the collection. Submitting photographs does not guarantee inclusion.
Email your photographs to contact@britishculturearchive.co.uk. For larger files or several photographs, you can send a WeTransfer link to the same address.
Please include as much of the following information as you can:
Where and approximately when each photograph was taken.
Who or what it shows.
Any memories or background that help explain it.
Who took the photograph, if known, and how it came into your possession.
Your name and how you would like your contribution credited.
You do not need to know every detail. Please make clear where dates, names or other information are uncertain.
Clear scans or digital copies are welcome.
Version 1.1 — 30 October 2020
The People’s Archive brings together personal and family photographs documenting everyday life in Britain. It is developed and curated by British Culture Archive, the trading name of The People’s Archive Limited (“BCA”, “we”, “us”).
These terms explain how we may preserve, publish and promote material accepted into The People’s Archive, and how opportunities arising through BCA are handled.
The main points
Copyright stays with its existing owner.
BCA may preserve, curate and publish accepted contributions for the purposes described below, including People’s Archive books and zines offered for sale, without further approval or royalties.
Third-party commercial licensing, individual photographic print sales and merchandise require a separate written agreement.
If an outside opportunity involving your contribution arises through BCA’s work, you must refer it to us before agreeing to the proposed use. Section 7 explains the process, deadlines and limits.
We obtain your recorded acceptance before relying on these terms to publish your contribution.
A contribution may include photographs, digital scans, captions, memories and other accompanying material.
Sending digital copies does not transfer ownership of physical prints, negatives, albums or other originals. Any donation or loan of physical material must be agreed separately. Please do not post original material without arranging this with us first.
Submission does not guarantee inclusion. BCA decides which contributions to accept and how accepted material is selected, catalogued and presented. We are not obliged to publish or permanently display every contribution.
Copyright remains with its existing owner. These terms do not transfer copyright to BCA or create joint copyright ownership.
You must own the relevant rights or have the rights holder’s authority to grant the permissions and accept the obligations in these terms. If you act for another person or an estate, please identify the rights holder and explain your authority.
Owning a physical photograph, appearing in it or possessing a family album does not necessarily mean you own its copyright. If you do not know who took a photograph or who owns the rights, tell us before accepting these terms. We will assess what further information or permission is needed before publication.
Please disclose existing agreements, restrictions, disputes or other commitments affecting the material. Where rights are shared, the necessary authority must cover all relevant rights holders.
Information supplied with a contribution should be accurate to the best of your knowledge. Please distinguish confirmed details from estimates, recollections and information you are unsure about.
For material you own or are authorised to license, you grant BCA a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to preserve, digitise, store, reproduce, publish, distribute, display and communicate accepted material for:
The People’s Archive and BCA websites, online collections, editorial features, social media and newsletters.
BCA-led People’s Archive zines, books, exhibition catalogues and other editorial publications, in print or digital form.
Exhibitions, displays, talks, screenings, workshops and educational activities organised or presented by BCA or The People’s Archive.
Publicity, fundraising and promotion directly connected with The People’s Archive and the publications, exhibitions and activities described above.
Press coverage of those projects and activities.
These permissions include publications offered for sale, further editions and reprints. We do not need to seek approval for each use within this scope.
The licence is non-exclusive. Rights holders remain free to use their material themselves and authorise others, subject to the process for BCA-generated opportunities in section 7 and any separate written agreement.
Contributing to The People’s Archive does not, by itself, create a wider photographer representation agreement with BCA.
BCA does not pay a contribution fee or royalty for uses authorised by these terms unless separately agreed in writing. Income from authorised publications and activities supports BCA’s work, including developing and maintaining The People’s Archive.
These terms do not authorise BCA to:
License submitted photographs to third parties for their independent commercial use, including advertising, publishing or broadcast projects.
Sell individual photographic prints of submitted images.
Reproduce submitted images on merchandise.
Those uses require a separate written agreement with the relevant rights holder, including any payment arrangements.
The publication permissions in these terms concern BCA-led People’s Archive projects. They do not allow unrestricted use of contributions in unrelated BCA products or campaigns.
BCA may give printers, designers, distributors, hosting providers, exhibition partners and other service providers the limited permissions necessary to deliver the activities authorised by section 3.
We may also supply selected material to journalists and publications solely for coverage of those activities.
These permissions do not allow recipients to exploit contributions independently or license them onward for unrelated purposes. BCA will communicate the relevant limits and credit requirements when supplying material.
BCA may digitise and resize photographs, make reasonable adjustments for reproduction and crop where necessary for the authorised presentation. We may edit accompanying text for length, accuracy and clarity.
We will respect the integrity of photographs and the meaning of contributors’ accounts. These terms do not authorise material alterations that change a photograph’s meaning or presentation in a misleading context.
Material will not be presented as endorsing an unrelated product, organisation or political position without separate permission.
We will credit photographers and contributors using the information supplied, wherever reasonably practicable. Please distinguish the photographer from the person supplying the material and tell us before publication if you request anonymity.
Contributors retain any moral rights they hold. Please contact us about incorrect captions or credits so we can review and correct them.
BCA invests time and resources in finding, researching, cataloguing, presenting and promoting contributions. Where that work generates an outside opportunity involving accepted material, you agree to involve BCA through the following process.
What this covers
A “BCA-generated opportunity” means a specific proposal to use accepted material that arises directly and materially from:
Its discovery through a BCA website, publication, exhibition, social media post or other BCA presentation.
An introduction, approach or proposal made by BCA.
Research, selection or project development undertaken by BCA and shared with the organisation concerned.
This includes proposed exhibitions, publications, broadcasts, licensing, reproductions and archive partnerships, whether paid or unpaid.
There must be a demonstrable connection between BCA’s work, the accepted material and the particular proposal. Someone having seen BCA’s website does not, by itself, make every subsequent relationship with you a BCA-generated opportunity.
Referring an enquiry
If you receive an enquiry that you know, or reasonably believe, concerns a BCA-generated opportunity, you must notify BCA promptly and normally within five working days.
Please provide the organisation’s identity and sufficient information to understand the proposed use, subject to applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.
You must explain that BCA needs to be included in discussions about the proposed use. You may discuss your personal history, provide background information and express interest, but must not grant permission or enter into a binding arrangement for the covered use before completing this process.
Neither party will deliberately conceal, redirect or restructure a BCA-generated opportunity to avoid this process.
Agreeing BCA’s involvement
BCA will acknowledge the referral and confirm whether it wishes to participate within five working days.
BCA and the contributor will then have 20 working days from receipt of sufficient information to seek agreement on BCA’s involvement. BCA must identify any essential missing information promptly and must not use information requests to prolong this period unreasonably.
Any resulting project agreement must identify:
The photographs and proposed uses.
Each party’s responsibilities.
BCA’s role and any agreed credit.
Any fees, revenue shares and permitted deductions.
The project’s duration and any exclusivity.
BCA cannot authorise a third-party use outside the submission licence without the rights holder’s separate written permission. Neither party is obliged to accept a proposed project or financial arrangement.
If no agreement is reached
You may proceed independently with that specific opportunity if:
BCA declines involvement.
BCA does not confirm its wish to participate within five working days of receiving the referral.
No project agreement is reached within the 20-working-day negotiation period.
The negotiation period may be extended by mutual written agreement.
BCA cannot impose an unagreed commission, retrospective fee or payment as a condition of releasing the opportunity. Any acknowledgement of BCA’s contribution must be agreed or otherwise legally required.
Independent opportunities and existing arrangements
This process does not cover opportunities genuinely developed independently of BCA, personal use of the material or permissions already granted before these terms were accepted.
An existing relationship with an organisation does not automatically exclude a new proposal generated through BCA. Equally, BCA displaying a photograph does not give BCA a claim over independently developed projects.
Permissions BCA grants to its suppliers, partners and press under section 5 do not require a further referral under this section.
Withdrawal
This obligation applies while the submission licence remains in force.
After withdrawal takes effect, it continues for six months only for specific opportunities already notified in writing to both parties before that date. The same response and negotiation deadlines apply; withdrawal does not restart them.
Any signed project agreement continues according to its own terms.
For this section, working days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in England and Wales.
To the extent you have authority to grant it, you authorise BCA to act as your representative in identifying suspected unauthorised reuse of accepted material, contacting those responsible and submitting platform copyright reports or removal requests.
BCA may share relevant evidence with platforms, professional advisers and other parties where reasonably necessary for that purpose. Some reporting procedures require information about the rights holder or representative to be disclosed to the person whose content is reported.
This authority does not permit BCA to settle a claim, release your rights, commence court proceedings on your behalf or charge you legal costs without a separate written agreement. It does not itself give BCA an independent right to bring proceedings in its own name.
BCA decides what monitoring or administrative action it can reasonably undertake. We cannot guarantee that material published online will not be copied or that every suspected infringement will be pursued.
Please identify known sensitivities, objections, confidential information or concerns about people pictured, particularly children or vulnerable people.
Only supply personal information you are entitled to share. Do not include unnecessary addresses, contact details or other private information about people shown.
BCA may request further information, withhold publication, anonymise accompanying information or remove material where appropriate.
Personal information is handled under our Privacy Policy. Copyright permission does not remove the need to consider privacy, data protection and other applicable rights.
The submission licence continues unless ended under this section or otherwise agreed in writing.
You may end permission for future uses by giving 60 days’ written notice to contact@britishculturearchive.co.uk, identifying the material concerned and your authority to withdraw permission.
After receiving notice, BCA will stop initiating new uses and arrange removal from public platforms under its control within the notice period.
BCA may continue distributing publications already printed. We may also complete specific production or exhibition commitments entered into before receiving notice, ordinarily within 12 months. We will explain any such commitments when responding.
New print runs or new projects after withdrawal require fresh permission.
BCA cannot recall copies already distributed or guarantee removal of copies independently retained or shared by others. Limited non-public records may be retained where lawfully necessary for rights administration, legal evidence and record-keeping.
The limited continuing obligations for existing BCA-generated opportunities are set out in section 7. Separate project agreements continue according to their own terms.
Urgent rights, privacy or safeguarding concerns will be assessed promptly rather than waiting for the notice period. Nothing in this section limits statutory rights.
BCA will obtain your recorded acceptance before relying on these terms to publish your contribution. Simply sending files for consideration does not, by itself, count as acceptance.
We will identify the photographs and accompanying material covered, provide the applicable terms and ask you to confirm:
“I have read and accept The People’s Archive Copyright and Submission Terms, version 1.1 dated 30 October 2026, for the photographs and accompanying material identified in this correspondence. I confirm that I own the relevant rights or am authorised by the rights holder to grant these permissions and accept these obligations.
I understand that BCA may produce and sell People’s Archive publications containing this material without further approval or royalties. I also accept the obligation to refer BCA-generated opportunities through the process in section 7.”
Any restrictions or variations must be confirmed by BCA in writing and kept with the contribution records.
Contributors accepting these terms must be 18 or over. Contributions involving a younger rights holder require a separately agreed process with their parent or guardian.
These terms apply to contributions for which acceptance of this version has been recorded.
Existing contributions remain subject to the permissions originally obtained unless a new agreement is made. Updating this page does not retrospectively expand those permissions or impose new referral obligations.
Later changes to the website do not automatically change an agreement already made. Additional permissions or obligations must be agreed with the relevant rights holder.
Publication in The People’s Archive does not make a photograph freely available for others to reproduce.
Unless you have permission from the relevant rights holder or a legal exception applies, obtain permission before copying or republishing material. Giving a credit or including a watermark is not a substitute for permission.
You are welcome to share links to our public pages.
If you discover material through BCA and wish to use it in an exhibition, publication, broadcast, archive project or other activity, please contact contact@britishculturearchive.co.uk first. We can explain the permissions we hold, involve the relevant contributor and discuss any further agreement required.
This request does not itself give BCA exclusive copyright or override existing permissions, applicable law or the rights holder’s independent rights.
For submissions, corrections, withdrawal requests or concerns about unauthorised use, email contact@britishculturearchive.co.uk.
Please identify the material concerned, explain your connection to it and include any relevant supporting information.
These terms govern contributions accepted under this version. Our wider website Terms & Conditions apply where relevant. If there is a conflict concerning submission permissions or BCA-generated opportunities, these dedicated terms take precedence, subject to any separate written agreement with the relevant rights holder.
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, without excluding any mandatory protections or court rights available to contributors under applicable law.