Should You Ever Use Royalty Free Content?

Royalty free content is something most people are confused about. Should you ever use royalty free content? Everyone with an online presence wants and needs photos and video content to build their brand on their websites and social media. But, how do they get that content when they don’t have big budgets for advertising and marketing? They often turn to royalty free content.

Images and videos are increasingly replacing text in the online world. Mobile technology such as tablets and smartphones means information is accessible almost instantly, 24/7, and users want faster and easier ways to get to news, information, stories and the brands they love. These devices also come with higher-quality cameras like the LG G Flex that has a 13-megapixel camera, so photographers and videographers can create professional content on the go. So if marketers are using more visual content that means they should be paying attention to licensing as well.

What is Royalty Free?

As Alex Wild explains for Scientific American, royalty free does not mean free—not free of financial price or free of copyright. Royalty free really means that you’re buying most of the rights to use the piece in a single, one-time purchase. It refers to a type of license that confers permission to use a work in certain ways without paying a royalty fee for each use.

Royalty free images are usually available under general terms that are non-transferable, non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide and multi-use notes Stock Photo Guides. This means that while you may have found an economical way to add a photo or video to whatever project you are working on, several others may have found the same image, especially if it is a good image, and are going to be able to use it at the same time as you do. This can lead to brand confusion when more than one user has the same photo or video online and in print.

Royalty free also differs from open access images available in the Creative Commons and works available in the public domain. Open access use requires attention to the allowable uses of the works, such as attribution to the owner/creator and how you can use the work; commercial use is not always allowed. Works in the public domain have no cost or restrictions.

Royalty Free Use Today

The use of royalty free content today requires some attention to licensing. Licenses vary, and it’s what’s in the licenses that provide legal protection for users. Model releases should be obtained for all photos and videos so that the models state that they know and agree their images will be used for commercial purposes.

Image matching technology has made it easier for creators to see how their works are being used, and it’s common for infringers to receive takedown notices, cease and desist letters and even letters demanding payment for the unlicensed use of content. A newer tactic is the soft cease and desist letter, which invites infringers to become a paying subscriber to whatever service the content came from.

It’s important to make sure you are properly licensing the content you use so that you don’t get entangled in demands for back fees, sucked into subscriptions and threatened with lawsuits. Stockphotorights.com suggests that you ask questions of your content suppliers before licensing content. For example, ask if suppliers have permission to use the content they are offering, ask about model and property releases, ask about additional legal protections in case of disputes and ask about inspection processes for identifying risky properties or trademarks.

What Are Marketers Doing with Royalty Free?

Marketers can use royalty free content, especially photos and videos, to do a variety of cost-effective tasks with advertising and social media. They can use it to showcase faraway sites without actually traveling to them. They can use it to augment written storytelling. Or, they even can use content from the past to highlight changes in their current topics.

Image matching technology and secure copyright and licensing monitoring systems encourage user confidence in the integrity of the works presented and protect the integrity of everyone using and viewing content. It also means that users must pay close attention to how they’re using royalty free content.


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