Features of Royalty-Free Stock Image

Stock Image includes stock photography and stock footage, means images that can be licensed for specific uses. their uses are very popular with designers, graphic artists, art directors, advertising agencies, and marketing professionals, in magazine advertisements, websites, and marketing brochures. Instead of hiring a professional photographer to create an image. A collection of stock photography may also be called a photo archive, picture library, image bank or photo bank.

Since 1920's, images could be filed at an agency that negotiates licensing fees on the photographer's behalf in exchange for a percentage. With the advent of the digital photography, and so many people armed with cameras of high enough quality to shoot great photos, it is a good idea to make these photos available to each other, at a low price, while paying the photographers a commission for each photo sold. Today, the Internet wave pushes this business increasingly blossoming online, especially with the newer micro-stock models.

In this industry, a important feature is so-called "Royalty-free". "Free" in this context means "free of royalties (paying each time you use an image)". It does not mean the image is free to use without purchasing a license or that the image is in the public domain. Details:

1. Pay a one-time fee to use the image multiple times for multiple purposes (with limits).
2. No time limit on when the buyer can use an image.
3. No one can have exclusive rights of a Royalty-free image (the photographer can sell the image as many times as he or she wants).
4. A Royalty-free image usually has a limit to how many times the buyer can reproduce it. For example, a license might allow the buyer to print 10,000 brochures with the purchased image. The amount of copies made is called the print run. Above that print run the buyer is required to pay a fee per brochure. Those magazines with a large print run cannot use a basic Royalty-free license and therefore they either purchase images with an extended license or have in-house photographers.

There are two kinds of licenses, Basic and Extended.

With a Basic License, licensee may print or use the image for their personal use in any size provided that there is no subsequent sale or transfer to other persons. The images that users download under the Basic License may be used to make fine art prints, on web sites, in magazines, newspaper, products, software, newsletters, advertisements, flyers, packaging, marketing material, school assignments, presentations, and within films or videos, books or booklets, in either printed or electronic media, as long as the item in which the image appears does not contradict some restrictions. Note that the maximum number of copies for printed materials is limited, for example 10,000 copies. The images that users download with the Basic License also may be used as "editorial use" to illustrate truthful articles or broadcasts appearing in magazines, newspapers or any other editorial context, in either printed or electronic media.

But only With a Basic License, users may not use the images in products in which these images are dominant feature if the product is to be subsequently sold or distributed. Examples include posters, postcards, greeting cards, mugs, T-shirts, canvas, hats, mouse pads, magnets, art prints, paintings, or calendars, and screensavers, web templates, software, web page builders, gallery, or any system where the image file can be unincorporated from the software or system or be shared among, transferred to, or otherwise distributed to a number of users. It is also forbidden to make the image available on a website for download (as wallpapers for example). The use of images for these purposes under the Basic License is not permitted. In these cases, users should buy Extended Licenses.

The following licenses offer extended types of usage for Basic Licenses. These are additional licenses to the rights included within the Basic Licenses. Note that the other restrictions still apply.

1. Increase Max Copies: Extends our Basic Licenses to a maximum amount of printed copies, let us say up to 1,000,000 copies, etc.
2. Electronic Items for Resale: this license includes the right to use the images for web templates that are sold to more customers, screensavers, e-cards, PowerPoint presentations or as wallpapers on cell phones.
3. Physical Items for Resale: includes the right to use the photos for T-shirts, postcards, greeting cards, mugs, mouse pads, posters, calendars, framed artwork that is to be sold to other customers.

Note, buying the high-resolution image (purchasing the license) does not transfer the copyright.

Another important feature of web-based stock photography collections is that the images have been embedded with meta-data, therefore making the images searchable by using keywords. This feature helps users finding photos or footages very quickly over the Internet and make the cost lower and lower. Finally, more and more people can enjoy high quality digital images and videos, and the world becomes more and more beautiful.