Performance Guidelines

1. New clients

To keep performers safe, we ask first-time clients to confirm the following.

• Company name, address, contact details, line of business and website
• Who is commissioning the shoot — advertiser, agency or production company — and the person responsible
• A short call beforehand if you would like one; online is fine

Where information is unclear, or where we judge that a performer’s safety cannot be assured, we may decline the booking.

For a first booking with us, we ask for 50% on confirmation, with the balance invoiced after the shoot.

2. Image rights and publicity rights

A performer’s image carries both a personal right — not to be photographed or published against their will — and a property right in the commercial value of that image. We are entrusted with managing both, and we grant permission only once the purpose, media, period and territory are clear. Depending on what the performer does, neighbouring rights as a performer may also arise.

Points to note

• Image means more than the face. Hands, feet, hair and a view from behind are all covered.
• Use of a performer’s name, voice or biography also needs our permission. The same applies to re-use of a narration recording.
• Permission to photograph and permission to use are two different things. Material shot with our agreement still cannot be used without a separate licence.
• Copyright in a photograph and the performer’s image rights are separate. A copyright holder who uses the image without permission is still infringing.
• Cropping, blurring or otherwise altering an image also needs our agreement in advance, and we may decline.
• If you transfer or lend test-shoot material to a third party, tell us the recipient, the purpose and the fee, and obtain permission first.

Athletes, artists and creators

An athlete’s image may be limited by contracts with their club, federation or sponsors, which restricts what we are able to license. Tell us the media, period and exclusivity requirements early and we will confirm what is possible case by case.

Where you book an artist or creator, you may also want to use their own work — music, film or design. Using that work needs a licence separate from the image licence, so tell us the scope you need in advance.

Copyright

Copyright in the material belongs, in principle, to the photographer or producer who created it. What we provide is the right to use the performer’s image within the agreed scope. These are separate rights, so if you commission the shoot and the production elsewhere, settle the copyright position with that production company separately. Where you commission the full package from us, we cover both copyright and image use together.

Being the copyright holder does not allow you to sub-license the image to a third party beyond the contract, or to copy it onto the websites of affiliated companies.

Buyouts

3. Who signs the contract

• The contract is between us and the party using the image — the advertiser — or the copyright holder in the advertising, meaning the agency or production company.
• We cannot allow a contract or memorandum we have not reviewed to be signed directly with a performer.
• Please do not contact or negotiate with performers directly. Scheduling, terms and changes on the day all go through us.
• Where the rights manager for the medium, or the party managing image use, is different from the party placing the order, say so in the contract.
• The contract remains in force not only until delivery but for as long as the material is in use.
• Final responsibility for payment rests with the advertiser. If payment is not received by the due date, we approach the casting company, the production company, the agency and the advertiser in that order.
• Contracts are drawn up in Japanese or English. NDAs can be on your paperwork or ours.

4. Defining the scope of use

Please make the following clear when you place the order.

Client name

The advertiser’s full legal name, including group or holding companies where relevant

Product or campaign

Where it is confidential before launch, an abbreviation or a clear product category is fine

Media

TVC, radio, web, social (including the advertiser’s own accounts), newspaper, magazine, transit, outdoor and indoor advertising, in-store, packaging, POP, posters, novelties, catalogues, apps, video

Period of use

Start and end dates. Tell us if there is a gap between the shoot and the start of use

Territory

Japan / specific regions / worldwide. Name the countries where use is outside Japan. Territory not stated in the original order is charged separately as an addition

Exclusivity

Whether it applies, and its scope — company-level or product-level

What the performer does

Lines, movement, number of scenes, changes of outfit including colour variants

5. Web and digital media

Digital media is easy to copy, repost and alter, so we need more detail at the ordering stage.

Websites

• Tell us the type of placement (corporate site, banner advertising, digital catalogue and so on), the company, campaign and product names, the period, the URLs and the contracting party.
• Where the scope is written only as “the internet” or “web”, we cannot grant permission. Please give us the first level of every URL you will use — meaning the URL up to the slash that follows the protocol.
• A site carrying the same sponsor name, the same product and the same layout is still treated as a different use if the URL differs. Store pages inside shopping malls and global sites need particular attention.
• Where material is copied to the sites of distributors or retailers, obtain permission for each URL and pay the usage fee for the number of URLs involved.
• Moving material from print to web, or from web to print, needs a separate licence for each medium, even where the title and layout are identical.
• If a site is still reachable after the contract has ended, we treat it as still published. Managing and deleting server data is the copyright holder’s responsibility.

Social, curation sites and affiliates

• Use on social media, including the advertiser’s own accounts, needs a separate licence. Where a performer helps to share the content, tell us and we will discuss the terms and the fee.
• Curation and aggregator sites also need a separate licence. Where a third party uses material without permission, requesting its removal is the copyright holder’s responsibility.
• We generally do not accept affiliate advertising, because the image cannot be properly managed. Talk to us in advance if it is unavoidable.

Video, music video and digital magazines

• For a music video, the contract differs depending on whether it is promotional only or will also be used as advertising. If it becomes advertising material after production, an additional contract is required. Tell us the distribution format — streaming, or paid download — in advance.
• For the digital edition of a magazine, tell us the distributor, whether or not it is paid. For websites carrying the magazine’s name, give us the first level of every URL.
• For DVDs and similar media, tell us the number of copies, the sales period and the sales territory before we grant permission.

6. Extensions, added media and archives

• To use material beyond the contract, write to us at least one month before the period of use expires.
• Where we do not hear from you in time, we treat the use as having ended with the original term.
• We may not be able to grant an extension, depending on the performer’s availability or a conflict with another project.
• An extension or added media carries a further usage fee. The fee is payment for the use of the image, not for the performer’s labour, so continuing in the same medium for the same length of time attracts the same fee again.
• Keeping commercials, magazine back numbers or other material online as an archive beyond the original period also needs permission. Where an archive would get in the way of a performer’s future work, we may decline.

7. Unauthorised use

Using an image without permission, or beyond the scope of the permission given, infringes the performer’s image and publicity rights, and a penalty applies. Where use outside the contract costs a performer other work, that loss is also borne by whoever used the material.

The penalty is calculated on a basis of twice the regular usage fee, taking into account the extent and the duration of the use.

Charges for use outside the contract, and any penalty, sit outside the normal payment cycle and fall due promptly on receipt of the invoice.

8. Exclusivity

Exclusivity means restricting a performer from appearing in advertising for competing companies or for products in the same category. It narrows their ability to work, so it carries a separate fee.

• Being unable to appear in any advertising for competing companies is an exclusive contract and carries an exclusivity fee. Being restricted to a particular product group is a holding fee, which rises with the number of items covered.
• Please name the specific product group rather than a loose category such as “communications equipment” or “food”.
• Exclusivity runs for the same period as the use of the medium. It cannot be applied before use begins or after it ends. Restricting a performer outside the period of use requires a separate holding fee.
• Unless specifically ordered and paid for, items appearing incidentally in shot are not covered by exclusivity.
• Where the order is placed without exclusivity, we do not manage conflicts, and we cannot supply information about a performer’s other or past work. If you need that information, please move to an exclusive arrangement.

9. Fees and quotations

Performance and usage fees are set by the scope of the image licence — media, period, territory and exclusivity — together with the working conditions, meaning the hours booked and what the performer actually does. We do not publish a rate card; tell us the conditions and we will quote, free of charge.

Not included in the performance fee

• Travel, location transport and accommodation. Regional shoots are quoted at cost or separately.
• Time spent at auditions, camera tests, measurements, toiles and fittings.
• Rehearsal and presentation time on days other than the shoot day.
• Surcharges for early morning and late night, commitments starting the day before, and overtime beyond the booked hours.

Payment

• Fix the performance and usage fees at the point the booking is confirmed, before the shoot.
• Tell us your closing date and payment date before you confirm.
• Payment is by bank transfer in Japanese yen. Transfer fees are payable by the client.
• We issue a qualified invoice electronically after the shoot (registration number T6011001146214). Paper is available on request.
• Where payment is made to us as a corporation, withholding tax does not apply.
• Figures shown are exclusive of tax. Consumption tax applies at the statutory rate to the total, including performance fees, usage fees and handling charges.

10. Working conditions

Hours per day

8 hours including breaks as standard. Overtime is charged separately

Early morning and late night

Work before 6:00 or after 21:00 carries a surcharge; the amount is set out in the quotation

Travel the day before

Where travel commits the performer from the previous day, a surcharge applies according to the time involved

Getting home

For late finishes we arrange accommodation or a taxi. Please make sure performers are not travelling alone late at night

Re-shoots

Booking the performer again is treated as a new booking

11. Cancellation and standby days

From the moment a booking is confirmed we turn down other work for that date, including from competing companies. Cancellation after that point carries the following charges.

Cancellation is counted from the moment your notice reaches us during business hours (weekdays 10:00–19:00). Notice sent outside those hours, or at a weekend or public holiday, is treated as received on the next business day.

Day before or day of

100%

Earlier than that

50%

Weather standby day

50% for a day held as standby, whether or not it is used, because the performer’s schedule is blocked either way

Cancelled on standby at home

50%

Cancelled after arriving on location

100%

Standby decision deadline

One week before the shoot. After that, confirmed bookings take priority and moving the date becomes difficult

The rates above apply where a weather standby day was agreed in advance. Where no standby was agreed and a shoot is cancelled because of weather, the ordinary cancellation rates apply.

Where the budget does not allow a standby day, please have a same-day plan that works in both fine and wet weather.

12. On set

Tell us in advance

• Shoots involving lingerie, swimwear or other exposure, and water, heights or wire work
• Animals on set — the species and the storyboard. This is essential to prevent allergic reactions and accidents
• Any possibility of an early or late finish, and travel starting the day before
• Motion capture, parts-only work and anything else outside a normal appearance

Please provide

• A proper changing space, such as a location van. We cannot ask performers to change in shop or shopping centre toilets.
• Roughly an hour of rest for every four hours. Long shoots must include breaks.
• Protection against heat, sun and cold, including water and what is needed to regulate temperature.
• A location with the proper permissions. We cannot take part in shoots that involve trespass or restricted areas.

Our position

13. Culture, religion and language

Our performers come from more than 100 countries. Sharing the following in advance keeps the day running smoothly.

• Whether clothing, poses or content need religious or cultural consideration
• Dietary restrictions and allergies, where you are providing food
• The working language on set, and the level of Japanese you need from the performer

Telling us early lets us brief the performer properly and avoids problems on the day.

14. Minors and senior performers

Minors

Under Japanese labour law, those under 18 may not work between 22:00 and 05:00, and children — up to 31 March following their fifteenth birthday — may not work between 20:00 and 05:00. We ask for shoots to follow the same limits.

• A guardian’s consent and attendance are required. For children under 12 we treat a guardian’s presence at auditions and on set as standard.
• Schooling comes first. We cannot accept a schedule that requires a child to miss school.
• Please consider the total commitment, including travel to location, waiting, breaks and the shoot itself.
• As a rule, call times should be 07:00 or later and the day should finish by 20:00. Where that is unavoidable, we ask you to arrange transport or accommodation and cover the cost.
• Please provide a healthy waiting area, away from smoking areas, noise and hazardous equipment.
• We do not accept work involving violence, sexual content, bullying, discrimination, drinking or smoking.
• Long or repeated engagements in theatre or film may require permission under labour law. The company running the production may need to apply as the employer.

What counts as a reasonable commitment differs with a child’s age and stamina. Talk to your director about the schedule before you place the order.

Senior performers

For senior performers, please discuss the hours and the content with us in advance with their physical demands in mind. Allow proper breaks and avoid late finishes and long days.

15. Clients outside Japan

• Clients based outside Japan are asked to settle in full in advance, regardless of how many projects we have worked on together.
• Payment is by bank transfer in Japanese yen. Remittance charges, lifting fees and the cost of a manager travelling to set are payable by the client.
• Where a performer is invited from overseas, we act as the inviting organisation ourselves. Our legal counsel is registered with the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau as an authorised filing agent, and handles everything from the certificate of eligibility application to the supporting documents. You do not need to find an inviting organisation of your own.
• Travel, accommodation and visa costs are quoted per project.
• For performers based in Japan, we verify residence status and the right to work. You do not need to check separately.
• Where a performer travels abroad for a shoot, visas, work permits, flights, accommodation and insurance are settled in the contract beforehand. Please observe local law and labour rules.
• Consumption tax applies to shoots in Japan. Material shot outside Japan is still taxable where it is used in a territory that includes Japan.

16. Confidentiality and personal data

• We are bound by confidentiality in relation to the order and anything we learn in the course of the work. Our performers are under the same obligation.
• Please do not disclose a performer’s personal data to anyone not involved in the work, or use it for any other purpose.
• Where you need a performer to sign a confidentiality or data protection document, contact us first.
• If a performer wants to post shoot content on social media, we obtain your permission first.
• Images taken at public events or photo sessions are on the basis of private use. Publishing them on a website or social media needs a separate licence.

17. Insurance and force majeure

• The duty to avoid accidents rests with the party using the performer. Please hold appropriate insurance for all work. Loss not covered by it is borne by the client.
• Where children are involved, please extend cover to the accompanying adult as the situation requires.
• Where a contract cannot be performed because of a natural disaster, an epidemic, an accident or illness supported by a medical certificate, we resolve it by discussion between the parties.

18. Work we cannot accept

We are unable to take on work in the following cases.

• Where organised crime groups, or individuals connected with them, are the client or otherwise involved
• Where a company or organisation cannot be verified, or where an individual client cannot provide identification in advance
• Where a performer’s physical safety cannot be assured, including travel by private car and shoots in unattended studios or private spaces
• Where the work would damage a performer’s or our reputation, or invade privacy
• Content contrary to public order, unlawful content, or obscene material
• Where the content of the appearance is not made clear before a performer is confirmed
• Where performers are contacted or negotiated with directly without our agreement
• Shoots producing stock photography or royalty-free material
• Contracts with no defined period of use

If anything here is unclear, ask your director or get in touch through our contact page.