Use of Baba Studio tarot card images and other imagery
We regularly refine our policies on "electronic reproduction” rights of our images, but hope the following will give a good outline of our current policies.
If in doubt, please always contact us before using any of our imagery. We appreciate all interest in using our images and aim to grant permission whenever possible. Please read this page thoroughly for more information on what we do and don't allow.
Please note that all breach of copyright by scanning and copying of our cards and books in printed form or in an electronic form intended for others to use "as is" or to reproduce in print is prohibited. This would include, for example, making and/or distributing scanned images for print, and/or making and distributing PDFs of our books. This covers all our work whether in print or out of print.
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Uses of imagery and tarot card imagery that is allowed free of charge.
“Use” can include photos, scans and/or video imagery. We do not charge for the following uses and you do not need prior permission. However, please follow these two conditions:
- A complete credit must be given of each deck used. The format, for example, should be, “The XXX Tarot by Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, BabaBarock Ltd, baba-store.com. All rights reserved, used by permission.” We much appreciate it if you can please double-check the spelling of names and the title of the deck!
- No more than 30 cards should be shown of any one deck. The exclusion is video “walk-throughs” of decks. If you need to use more cards for any purpose, please contact us first for permission.
Tarot deck reviews: You can use our card images for reviews without prior permission. We much appreciate it if you send a link to your review, but this is not a condition of usage.
Marketing/sales of our tarot decks: If you are selling our (genuine!) decks, you can show images of deck packs, sample cards and so on, as needed. Please make your own images rather than use the ones in our shop, as using our images can be misleading (e.g. may not show condition of deck).
Tarot readings: You can photograph your spreads and readings and show these – this includes sending these readings to other people as necessary.
Education purposes (non commercial): Articles and written or video pieces about tarot, intended purely for educational or academic purposes, are allowed. However, please note that articles that appear in magazines or any other commercial media may need prior permission (please see below).
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Commercial usages of our tarot cards and tarot card imagery that require prior permission and possibly a fee.
Permission in writing from us is required for all the reproduction and use of tarot deck images for commercial purposes including those purposes listed below (these are not exhaustive, if in doubt, please contact us first). We reserve the right to charge a fee - this is decided on a case-by-case basis.
Printed materials: Tarot cards and tarot card imagery used in any book, magazine, other printed publication, and including editorial and advertising.
Tarot reading software applications including online and apps: Tarot cards or imagery used in any online, electronic or digital application.
Branding and identity, including avatars, banners, graphic decorations and all print media: Tarot cards and tarot card imagery used as any part of branding and identity in electronic or print media.
On and offline media: Tarot cards and tarot card imagery used in film, television, videos, advertising, promotions and marketing communications.
Commercial tarot education: Commercial instructional materials used to teach tarot. This includes all fee-paying courses, workshops etc.
We give approval and permissions (a license to use) on a case-by-case basis. We may ask you to pay fees for this and/or we may give permission under certain conditions. All request for permission must be done in writing - you can contact us HERE - and should give as much information as possible, including links to any online sites/pages etc where the imagery would be used.
We do not give permission for our imagery to be altered in any way.
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FAQs
I bought the deck, so can't I do what I like with it?
Absolutely - you can do whatever you want with the physical deck, but copyright means the right to copy and only we, the copyright holders, have the copyright - the right to copy. Copying means reproducing electronically, by print, or by any other means. When you buy the deck, you do not buy the right to copy it.
Some of your decks and books are out of print, so if I can't buy them, surely I can copy them?
Copyright has nothing to do with whether a piece of artwork or writing is currently in print or not. The creators own the copyright and - sorry - you do not have the moral or legal right to copy their work, whatever their decision on printing and reprinting. You can always contact us to find out if a reprint might happen in the future.
I'm not doing anything commercial because although I want to use your work for promoting my commercial service, I am not actually selling decks.
Hah - we do actually get asked this! Please see above for what you are and aren't allowed to do without permission. If you want to use our work to promote your tarot-reading service or any other paid-for service, then this is a commercial use and you need to contact us to ask for permission.
Why are you so strict about use of your imagery?
At Baba Studio / BabaBarock we actually feel we are very co-operative about use of our images (try contacting us - we are friendly!). However, please remember that we put days, months and years into making these images, and they provide income for the whole studio. To be fair to everyone - including those who use our decks - we do have to protect our copyright and be careful about how the images are used. Thanks for understanding.