NUJ Freelance Fees Guide: General advice

This guide is to help freelances - self-employed journalists - negotiate the best rates and conditions possible for the various kinds of work that NUJ members undertake.

Being a freelances offers freedom to those who choose it - but also responsibility for tasks that employed journalists can leave to their employers, from negotiating contracts to dealing (eventually) with government bureaucracies.

The sections listed below offer advice on these matters.

Advice: What freelances need to charge and why

Advice: Negotiating fees

Advice: Rights and why they are important

Further advice: Moral rights

Further advice: Responding to rights grabs

Further advice: Syndication and spin-off rights

Further advice: Shift payments and copyright

Advice: Commissions and contracts

Further advice: Indemnities - challenge them and get insurance

Advice: Getting your money

Further advice: Kill fees for commissioned articles

Further advice: Cancellation fees for shifts

Advice: Late and problem payments

Advice: Shift payments - tax and time off

Advice: Employment status

Advice: Tax and National Insurance

Advice: VAT (Value Added Tax)

Advice: Setting up a company

Advice: Tracking down pirates

Further advice: Effective searching for text

Further advice: Finding photos and illustrations

Further advice: Once you have found a rip-off...

Further advice: Locating website owners

Further advice: Getting remedies

Further advice: Takedown

Advice tailored for photographers:

Advice: Negotiating rates + rights

Further advice: Search fees

Advice: Day/base rates

Advice: Digital pricing

Advice: Contracts + paperwork

Advice: Copyright

Further advice: Moral rights

Advice: Tracking down pirates

Advice: Useful networks and links

More advice...

See: NUJ Code of Conduct

See: Useful publications

See: Advice from the Freelance roundup

See: Joining the NUJ

See: Glossary of terms and categorisations

Code of practice for commissioning journalists

Generally useful links:

The National Union of Journalists must not, can not and would not wish to dictate rates or terms of engagement to members or to editors. The information presented here is for guidance and as an aid to equitable negotiation only.

Suggestions apply to contracts governed by UK law only. In any event, nothing here should be construed as legal advice.