BAPLA FOCUS 2025
Join us on Thursday 25 September at the historic Churchill War Rooms, the very space where visual strategy shaped public opinion, for a landmark edition of BAPLA FOCUS. This year’s event marks BAPLA’s 50th anniversary, celebrating five decades of image licensing expertise while tackling the challenges ahead.
The daytime conference runs from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM, featuring exclusive insights from leading experts on copyright, policy, metadata, AI-assisted tagging, secure licensing workflows and the evolving role of images: who creates them, who controls them and how we protect their value. After the main programme, attendees will enjoy a special evening celebration, including after-hours access to the Churchill War Rooms (normally priced at £33), along with drinks and canapés.
Refreshments and lunch will be provided during the day, making this a unique opportunity to connect, learn and reflect on 50 years of protecting visual culture, past, present and future.
Who Owns the Truth? Copyright, Control & the Future of Image Licensing (Celebrating 50 Years of BAPLA in the Churchill War Rooms)
Step into the underground nerve centre where history was shaped and dive into the urgent conversations shaping our visual future.
At a time when synthetic content blurs reality, BAPLAFOCUS 2025 brings together the sharpest minds in law, publishing, archives and tech to tackle the big questions: What does truth look like in the age of AI? And how can licensing protect both creators and innovation?
This year’s theme is all about power , the power of images, the power to influence and the power to protect what matters. We’re also marking a major milestone: BAPLA turns 50. Join us as we honour the hidden champions of our industry — from pioneering women photographers, licensors and archivists to the tireless advocates defending creative rights.
🎤 Must-See Panels Include:
🕵️ Truth & the Image
How do we defend authenticity in a world of deepfakes and synthetic media? From frontline photojournalism to manipulated news imagery, we explore the vital role licensing plays in protecting the visual record.
⚖️ Copyright in Crisis? Collective Solutions for a New Era
Generative AI is disrupting everything. What’s next for creators’ rights? We’ll spotlight bold, collective action from the Make It Fair campaign to the work of DACS, PICSEL, AKG and others fighting for fair pay and copyright integrity.
📸 Quiet Pioneers: Women Shaping the Visual Record (Preserving Women’s Work, Memory and Authorship in an Age of AI)
As AI reshapes how we see and remember, this panel explores how women, as archivists, founders and photographers have quietly shaped visual culture. From wartime records to image libraries, we’ll examine the feminist-informed practices and tools needed to preserve and promote women’s legacies in visual media in an age of erasure.
🔐 License to Last: The Past, Present & Future of Image Rights
What does the next 50 years of licensing look like? We’ll explore how innovation, AI, and legacy collections can coexist and how rights holders can stay ahead of the curve.
✨ What You’ll Get:
✅Unmissable insights from industry leaders at the forefront of image rights,licensing and visual culture
✅Actionable knowledge on metadata, secure licensing workflows, AI-driven tagging& more
✅Powerful networking with image licensing’s key players
✅Exclusive access to the Churchill War Rooms after-hours – a rare chance to explore history in style (normally priced at £33)
✅A celebration of BAPLA’s 50 years and the future we’re building together
🎟 Full agenda and speakers dropping soon.
Early bird tickets now available for a limited time: make sure you’re in the room where it happens…
Speakers
Speakers
Speakers
Thank you to our Sponsors
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Thank you to our Sponsors
PICSEL-id is an innovative image indexing and visual search engine powered by Reverse Image Search (RIS) technology. Using a cutting-edge fingerprinting system, PICSEL-id identifies images based on their visual content and connects users with the rightful owners. With a simple drag-and-drop interface, users can search for an image by uploading a single photo, a cropped or rotated version, a PDF, a montage, or even an entire book that needs relicensing. PICSEL-id is a solution to modern challenges in image retrieval, misuse, and licensing.
Whether you’re protecting your creative work or sourcing content with confidence, PICSEL-id is here to simplify and secure the process.
If you are already a PICSEL member, for a limited period, you can index all your images free of charge. Non-members can index images for a small admin fee.
For more information contact help@picsel-id.com
Bridgeman Images is the world's leading image licensingagency for fine art, cultural and historical content.
We help creatives produce award-winning work, by licensingimages and videos from thousands of the world’s most prestigious museums,collections, contemporary artists, and photographers. Our clients benefit froma simple, fast, reliable service and comprehensive advice on all aspects ofcopyright and licensing.
With offices in London, Paris, New York, Berlin and Milan,we are one of the world’s oldest image licensing agencies and have been clearing copyright and reproduction rights on behalf of artists and artists'estates since 1972.
We pioneered the model of sharing a significant proportion of income with our image suppliers as royalties. Over the years, we’ve paid more than £75m+ to our Content Partners, which goes back to supporting arts and culture globally.
For more information contact infouk@bridgemanimages.com
Register for this event
IWM Churchill War Rooms, Clive Steps, King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AQ
Please arrive by 9:00 AM to allow time for registration and security checks at the Churchill War Rooms. Due to museum protocols, there will be a two-step check-in process, including collecting a wristband which will allow you to move freely in and out of the venue throughout the day. Please ensure you wear it at all times for easy re-entry and access to event spaces. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us start the day promptly.
Early bird tickets are now available for a limited time - book early to take advantage of this special offer.
