The Stage’s Freelance Contributions Terms and Conditions

The Stage is a monthly print publication and www.thestage.co.uk is a website (together, "The Stage" in these Terms). They are both operated by Playbook Media Trading Company Limited, company number 02316307, of Stage House, 47 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XT ("we", "us" or "our").

 

These terms and conditions ("Terms") are between you and us, and govern our use of the content of any Contribution (as defined below) that you choose to submit to us.

 

Please read these Terms carefully before you submit a Contribution to us. They tell you who we are, how we may use any Contribution, and your responsibilities for all Contributions.

 

By submitting a Contribution to us, you accept and agree to abide by these Terms. If you do not accept these Terms, please do not submit any Contributions to us.

 

Definitions

When the following words with capital letters are used in these Terms, they have these meanings:

 

"Commissioned Contribution" means a Contribution that we asked you to submit to us.

 

"Contribution" means any material that you submit to us, such as (but not limited to) written articles, sound recordings, photographs (including those taken by the press and media) and video.

 

"Edition" means any printed, electronic, audio, visual, digital or other form or method of publication, broadcast, communication or transmission to the public (that is, to anyone other than us and our sub-licensees and assignees).

 

"Editor" means our print editor or our online editor.

 

"Reproduce" or "Reproducing" means, as the context requires, to:

 

(a) modify, edit, update, reproduce, publish, republish, distribute, redistribute, use, reuse, develop, redevelop, copy, store or archive; and

(b) make derivative works (that is, other content based on a Contribution, such as (but not limited to) a translation, sound recording, video recording, digital copy or abridged version) of all or any part of a Contribution, and use those derivative works in the ways described in (a).

 

"Reproduction" means any work we have created by Reproducing your Contribution.

 

Grant of licence for Contributions

You grant us a fully paid-up, non-terminable, irrevocable, worldwide, assignable and sub-licensable licence to Reproduce all or any part of your Contribution in any Edition (the "Licence").

 

Any fees and expenses to be paid for your Contribution, and any submission deadlines, should be agreed with the Editor before you submit your Contribution. Unless fees or expenses are agreed with the Editor before you submit your Contribution, you acknowledge, represent, warrant and agree that no fees, expenses, royalties, commissions or any other form of compensation or payment whatsoever are payable for the use of your Contribution in accordance with these Terms.

 

For each Commissioned Contribution, the Licence is exclusive for 12 months from the date on which we, or anyone with our authority, first publish the Commissioned Contribution or a Reproduction based on it in any Edition (the "Exclusivity Period"). After that, it is non-exclusive for the remaining period of the copyright and any other rights in your Commissioned Contribution.

 

Unless otherwise agreed, for all other Contributions (that is, Contributions that you submit to us of your own accord, and not because we asked you to), the Licence is non-exclusive for the full period of the copyright and any other rights in your Contribution.

 

You acknowledge and agree that we have the right:

• to be the first publisher of each Commissioned Contribution, and of any Reproduction of any Commissioned Contribution, in any Edition and in any language;
• to syndicate your Contribution or any Reproduction to other people (for example, if a newspaper asks whether it can publish all or part of your Contribution in its Editions);
• to authorise NLA Media Access (formerly the Newspaper Licensing Agency) and any similar or other reprographic rights organisation in any territory of the world ("RROs") to distribute, or license the distribution of, your Contribution or any Reproduction throughout the world, in any language, for the RROs’ licensed acts and purposes as amended from time to time, and to keep your Contribution or any Reproduction available for the duration of the Licence; and
• to publish a photograph of you (which you will provide to us on request, for our final approval) in connection with your Contribution or any Reproduction, or to promote or publicise them, in any Edition.

 

Contributions we do not accept or use

Nothing in these Terms obliges us to accept, publish or Reproduce all or any part of any Contribution that you submit to us.

 

For all Contributions, if we or our assignees or sub-licensees do not publish or Reproduce your Contribution, in whole or in part, in an Edition within 6 months of the date you submitted it to us, the Licence will automatically end and we will be treated as having decided not to use your Contribution.

 

If we are treated as having decided not to use a Contribution, or we tell you in writing that we have decided not to use it, we will only be obliged to pay you 50% of the fee (if any), plus any expenses that you agreed with the Editor before you submitted it.

 

Content standards

The following content standards apply to each Contribution (and any part of it) that you submit to us.

 

Payment of any agreed fee or expenses for your Contribution depends on our assessment of the quality of your Contribution, at our sole and absolute discretion. We appreciate that there is a subjective element to this, but we will not exercise this right unreasonably or capriciously.

 

You warrant, represent and undertake that your Contributions will:

• be accurate (where they state facts);
• be your own original work (and not copied wholly or substantially from any other source);
• be genuinely held (where they state opinions);
• comply with any standards we set for a Contribution (for example, word counts);
• comply with applicable law in the UK;
• not contain any material that is or may be defamatory of any person, obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory;
• not contain any material that is or may be likely to bring us, our brands, our trade marks or our reputation into disrepute;
• not promote sexually explicit material, or promote violence or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or age;
• not infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person;
• not be likely to deceive any person, or be used to impersonate any person or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person;
• not be threatening or abusive, invade another person’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or harm; and
• not advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act or illegal activity.

In providing your Contribution to us, you must: (i) abide by the Independent Press Standards Organisation ("IPSO") Editors’ Code of Practice (available at www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice); (ii) co-operate fully with us and IPSO if a complaint is made about your Contribution to IPSO or to us; and (iii) tell us immediately of any actual or potential conflict of interest arising from any Contribution, engagement or service you provide to us.

 

AI policy

The Stage is committed to being the most trusted and authoritative voice in the theatre and performing arts sector. Artificial intelligence offers opportunities to improve efficiency and enhance our work, but it must be used responsibly.

 

This policy sets out how generative AI may and may not be used by the journalists we publish. It exists to protect editorial integrity, the company’s reputation in the theatre sector, intellectual property, and data security and privacy.

 

AI is a tool. It is not a substitute for human judgement and creativity.

 

Our readers must be able to expect that the journalism they read in The Stage has been written by the writer whose name appears on the piece, and that the writer is accountable for the journalism they produce.

 

Permitted uses of generative AI include:

• transcription;
• grammar and spell checking;
• formatting; and
• summarising reports and other written research.

Using AI for these purposes does not need to be disclosed to your editor.

 

Substantive use of AI that materially shapes the final piece must always be disclosed to your editor and will generally not be permitted. This includes using AI to draft or write full sentences or paragraphs of text.

 

Using an AI program to research facts without independently checking the results is not permitted.

 

Prohibited uses also include fabricating quotes or sources, and producing content that falsely represents reality and is likely to deceive people.

 

Entering confidential or unpublished material into public AI tools without approval is not permitted.

 

AI-generated text or images may be used only in limited circumstances, with clear human oversight, editorial approval and transparent disclosure.

 

We may amend or remove this policy at any time. If you are in any doubt, please ask your editor.

 

Intellectual property rights in Contributions

Except as set out in these Terms, you keep all rights in the copyright in your Contribution.

 

You waive absolutely all your moral rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in relation to your Contribution and, as far as is legally possible, any similar or broadly equivalent rights you may have in any other territory of the world. This means, for example, that you waive your right to be identified as the author of your Contribution and your right to object to your Contribution being subjected to derogatory treatment.

 

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits, during the Exclusivity Period, our statutory right under section 101 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to bring copyright infringement proceedings against infringers in respect of your Contribution. You also expressly grant us a right of action under section 101A of that Act to bring copyright infringement proceedings against infringers in respect of your Contribution during any period in which the Licence is non-exclusive.

 

Suspension and termination

If you fail to comply with these Terms, we may take any or all of the following actions:

• immediately, temporarily or permanently withdrawing your right or opportunity to submit Contributions to us;
• withholding payment of all or part of any fee or payment for Contributions you have submitted to us that breach the content standards above; and
• bringing legal proceedings against you to recover, on an indemnity basis, all costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from the breach of these Terms.

 

Further assurance

You will, and will make sure that any necessary third party will, at your expense, promptly sign and deliver all documents and do all things reasonably required to give full effect to the rights granted to us in these Terms.

 

Varying these Terms

Any variation to these Terms must be agreed in writing by an Editor before you submit your Contribution.

 

Miscellaneous

In these Terms, words in the singular include the plural and vice versa.

 

No one other than a party to these Terms, or their successors or assigns, has any right to enforce any of these Terms.

 

Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation, are governed by and interpreted in accordance with the law of England and Wales, and are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.