Please note: all BnF sites close early at 3pm on Tuesday 24 and 31 December.
As a reminder, all BnF sites are closed on Wednesday 25 December and 1 January.
Order a reproduction with a commercial use
A distinction must be made between reproduction work (technical costs), payable when the order is placed, and the commercial use fee, which is invoiced and paid independently, once your project has been declared or published.
Please note: this section deals mainly with the ordering of “images” and “sound recordings” products, as these are the most frequently re-used in a commercial context, but any type of reproduction may be involved. For details of the different products on offer, see: reproduction products and fees.
How to order images or sound recordings from the BnF
Already digitized images
On the online databases, already digitised images delivered quickly via the BnF personal area:
- On the Image Bank: almost a million images available, including those under copyright: prints, photographs, illuminated and autograph manuscripts, drawings and engraving,newspaper front pages, maps and globes, objets d’art and coins. Purchase of high definition images and payment of the associated licence fee.
- On Gallica, online purchase of high-definition prints using the “Acheter une reproduction” (“Buy a reproduction”) function, delivery within the hour.
- On Mandragore (iconographic database of the Department of Manuscripts): purchase on quotation.
- On Retronews (the BnF Press website), for all requests for reproduction and commercial use, please contact reproduction@bnf.fr directly.
Non-digitised images
Non-digitised images can be found in the General Catalogue records.
You can also order them by requesting a quotation or sending an email directly to reproduction@bnf.fr, particularly if you wish to order a large number of images.
Sound recordings
Sound documents can be found in the General Catalogue records.
You can also order them by requesting a quotation or sending an email directly to reproduction@bnf.fr.
How to declare a commercial use
The use of images or sound recordings, whether in the public domain or not, in a publication for sale (with the exception of academic or scientific works), an exhibition, an audiovisual production, a paid service or product, a service invoiced to a third party or a promotional or commercial medium is subject to authorisation and payment of a usage fee.
The use of documents or images in an academic or scientific publication is free of charge, providing the source is acknowledged: BnF or Bibliothèque nationale de France. An academic or scientific publication is deemed to mean one published in the context of academic research work. The use of documents for publications for primary and secondary education and documentary bases that commercialise large digital corpora is not free of charge.
To declare the commercial use of the images or sound recordings ordered, a question about your use and a form will be sent to you at the end of the purchase process (by quotation or online).
Good to know:
Use the commercial use declaration form without submitting it, as this calculates the licence fee amount based on your uses (for images only).
What budget to allow for
For use of images
Prices for buying a high-definition image and for using it (not including special delivery).
The technical costs of making a previously digitised image available are €5 for a high definition (HD) image and €10 for a Premium image. The cost of scanning from the original is €25 for a high definition image and €50 for a Premium image.
Reductions on the “Licence fee” part only are applied according to the total number of images used in the same project:
- from 10 to 19 images: -10%
- from 20 to 29 images:-20%
- 30 images or more: negotiated fee
An additional fee is charged for transferring rights to another publisher: +50%
NB: if you already have the images, you only have to pay the licence fee.
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Internal page
|
(€5 or €25) + €60
|
|
Stamp
(less than 1/8 of page)
|
(€5 or €25) + €30
|
|
Cover
|
(€5 or €25) + €180 |
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Content presented on all web or mobile media
|
(€5 or €25) + €60
|
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Content presented on any audiovisual media (tv, cinema, catch-up, vod, dvd, cd, web documentary)
|
(€5 or €25) + €75
|
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Content presented on all exhibition media, except for catalogue and derived products
|
(€5 or €25) + €100
|
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Content presented on all communication media
|
Amount negotiated according to project economics
|
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Posters, postcards, calendars, playing cards, stamps, decorative posters, stationery, packaging, objects, decorative media, etc.
|
Negotiated percentage of sales based on project economics
|
| Where | Fee excluding taxes (technical costs + licence fee) |
|---|---|
|
Full reproduction of a document: publication or identical republication, rematerialisation in full and printing on demand, ebook, website, etc.
|
Negotiated percentage of sales based on project economics
|
For use of a sound recording
| Events or media | Use | Fee excluding taxes in eur |
|---|---|---|
|
Paying exhibition
|
Voluntary organisation
|
(cost of digitisation) + €5 per minute of recording
|
|
Institutional organisation
|
(cost of digitisation) + €15 per minute of recording
|
|
|
Trade show
|
(prix de la numérisation) + 15 € par minute d’enregistrement
|
|
|
Performing arts (theatre, dance, etc.)
|
All types of shows
|
(cost of digitisation) + €15 per minute of recording
|
|
Cinema
|
Short film, documentary
|
(cost of digitisation) + €10 per minute of recording
|
|
Feature film
|
(cost of digitisation) + €30 per minute of recording
|
|
|
Radio and television (hertzian broadcasting, or broadcasting by cable, by satellite, by internet)
|
All types of programmes
|
(cost of digitisation) + €15 per minute of recording
|
|
Publication or republication on media
|
Pressing under 3,000 copies
|
Pressing under 3,000 copies (cost of digitisation) + €5 per minute of recording
|
|
Pressing between 3,000 and 10,000 copies
|
(cost of digitisation) + €10 per minute of recording
|
|
|
Pressing between 10,000 and 100,000 copies
|
(cost of digitisation) + €30 per minute of recording
|
|
|
Pressing more than 100,000 copies
|
negotiated fee
|
|
|
Online distribution platforms
The dissemination of sound reproductions online by a publisher running a distribution (streaming, podcasting, etc.) platform is subject to the conclusion of a contract between the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the publisher managing the platform which defines the conditions for exploiting the reproductions and of the levels of the fees.
|
Use by distribution platforms only
|
(cost of digitisation) + a minimum charge of €10 and an annual increase set out in the agreement as a percentage of the controlled revenue from sales of the audio documents covered by the licence
|
|
Other forms of online distribution
|
All other forms of online use
|
(cost of digitisation) + €60 per minute of recording
|
|
Advertising (all media and physical formats)
|
All types of ads
|
(cost of digitisation) + flat fee negotiated with the user based on overall project economics.
|
