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Image licensing

Photo: Kevin Dooley / Flickr / CC BY 2.0w

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Contents1.0 Why license images?

2.0 Copyright and licensing

3.0 Types of licensing

3.1 Royalty Free

3.2 Rights Managed

3.3 Editorial

3.4 Creative Commons

3.2 Public Domain and Copyright Free

4.0 Conclusion

Written by Chris Plowman Designer, Crafted. November 2012

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1.0

Why license images?30 years ago, photography was a slow process; developing a negative into a positive image took hours and often days. In the digital age, images have become simple to produce, edit and share. Today, we can take a photo with the device we carry in our pocket and publish it to any number of photo sharing services within seconds.

This, along with the ability to search for images on the likes of Google, seems to have devalued photography in some people’s eyes – no longer are photographers viewed as a select band of skilled professionals, anyone with a camera or even a phone can be viewed as a photographer.

However, photos taken by photographers should still be viewed with the same reverence as they

ever were; the work of a professional (or enthusiastic amateur) has been crafted with as much care and attention as any designer, artist or carpenter.

It is for this reason that image licensing should be taken seriously, not just to avoid lawsuits or cease and desist requests, but to respect the craft of those who spend their time creating images.

This guide will take you through the process of finding images online, the various licensing types that apply and the restrictions that each license type places on you and how and where you can use the images that you have found.

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2.0

Copyright and licensingCopyright is inherent in the creation of any type of work; the second you take a photograph the copyright for that image is yours and no other person or organisation may use it for any reason without your permission.

Any image that is marked as copyright should not be used without prior permission from its author. However, it is also important to note that copyright does not have to be labelled to be in effect. Consequently, you cannot assume that just because an image does not specify any copyright or license that it is okay to use it. The author of the image retains copyright of the image unless they state otherwise.

Copyright does expire, and, while in the UK this time period is 70 years after the date of the death of the copyright owner, expiration dates vary depending upon country. Therefore it cannot be assumed that any image that is more than 70 years old is copyright free.

A license is a document that enables the author of intellectual property to grant the use of their work to others. A license, like copyright, is a legally binding agreement and depending on the licence held, specific terms and conditions need to be met by those wishing to use the work.

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Types of licenseThe different license types for images (or illustrations) can often

seem confusing, but these rules exist to allow individuals to

control how and where others can use their work. The current

licence types include:

• Royalty Free

• Rights Managed

• Editorial

• Creative Commons

• Public Domain & Copyright Free

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2.1

Royalty FreeImages with a Royalty Free license are often purchased from stock photo services, such as istockphoto.com or shutterstock.com. Royalty Free means that a person wishing to use an image will have to pay a one-off fee, usually dependent on the size or quality of the image, and can use their purchased image for a single project even if that image is reproduced multiple times.

For example: An image may be purchased from a stock site and used as the front cover for a brochure that is printed 5000 times. As the image is royalty fee, the only payment is for the initial usage of the image and not the 5000 reproductions of the image.

The one-off cost approach makes royalty free images very cost effective. However, it is worth noting that this type of licensing is not without its restrictions.

For example: iStockphoto.com does not allow images to be used on “items for resale, including prints, posters, calendars, mugs, mousepads, t-shirts, games, etc.” In fact, the use of a royalty free image in print is restricted to 499,999 copies, without the purchase of an extended license.

Where to find them:

Stock.xchngwww.sxc.hu

Although the quality of the images can vary enormously, this site has a large collection of images. The site uses its own licensing system that is similar to Creative Commons. Be sure to read the license before using any images!

iStockphotowww.istockphoto.com

A huge collection of stock imagery, on every subject. Images are available at varying prices depending on the size and quality required.

Similar sites include:www.shutterstock.comwww.stockvault.neten.fotolia.comwww.veer.comwww.corbisimages.com

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2.2

Rights ManagedRights Managed images work in a similar way to Royalty Free images, but allow you greater control over the usage of the image.

A Rights Managed licence comes in two forms, Non-Exclusive and Exclusive. A Non-Exclusive licence means that you have to pay a fee each time you use a single image. Anyone can purchase a license for the image.

For example, you may have seen different websites using the same stock image.

An Exclusive license allows you, and only you, to use an image. These licenses tend to be expensive, but, by stopping others using the same image as your business, could be beneficial in terms of brand identity and look and feel. However, not all images offer an Exclusive license.

As mentioned, a Rights Managed license can be purchased on a variety of parameters, such as usage type (eg. online advert, corporate brochure, CD cover), number of impressions or copies, the territory or geographic location and many more.

The price of the license will depend on the parameters that you require for the image. This can make the license more expensive than a Royalty Free image license, however the quality of the image is often a lot greater.

It is also worth noting that you should be aware of when the license expires. If the image is still being used after the license expiration date, you would be infringing on the terms of the agreement and may be fined accordingly.

Where to find them:

Corbis imageswww.corbisimages.com

Corbis focuses more on Rights Managed images, but still with an extensive library of Royalty Free images.

Similar sites include:www.shutterstock.comwww.stockvault.neten.fotolia.comwww.veer.comwww.corbisimages.com

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2.3

EditorialEditorial images are images that are licensed specifically and only for use in newspapers, magazines, blogs or non-commercial presentations.

Editorial licenses stipulate restrictions on usage, size, placement, duration of use and geographic distribution. Editorial images must only be used in content relating to events that are newsworthy or of public interest.

These images usually contain a celebrity, a place, an event, a product such as an iPhone or a Coca-Cola can, or people who have not

given permission for their image to be used for commercial use.

For example: You cannot use a photo of a Premier League football player to promote a new football boot you are releasing (without a sponsorship deal), but you can use a properly licensed image of the player in a blog piece about the weekend’s results.

While any Royalty Free and Rights Managed image can be used for editorial purposes as well as a commercial purposes, Editorial images are exclusively for editorial use.

Where to find them:

Corbis imageswww.corbisimages.com

Corbis focuses more on Rights Managed images, but still with an extensive library of Royalty Free images.

Similar sites include:www.shutterstock.comwww.stockvault.neten.fotolia.comwww.veer.comwww.corbisimages.com

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2.4

Creative CommonsCreative Commons is a non-profit organisation that provides a standardised way for authors of intellectual property to have complete control over the way their image is used by others. The license consists of four parts:

1. Modifications

The license can be set to one of three options concerning modification of the image. The license either: allows modification, does not allow modification or allows modification as long as the piece created is licensed under the same rules specified for the original image.

• If modification is allowed, then the image is yours to do with as you please (eg. use the image as part of a larger composition).

• If modification is not allowed, the image must not be changed in any way.

• If the author of the image has specified that modifications can be made under the same license as the original, known as share-alike, then the modified image must adhere to the same restrictions as the original. This means that, if the author has specified under the license of the original image that the image cannot be used for commercial work, then any modifications, for example if the original is used as part of a larger composition, cannot be used in commercial applications either.

2. Commercial work

The license will also specify whether the image may be used for commercial work or only non-commercial work. If the images are to be used for advertising purposes, (eg. print advertisements or online banners) then only images that allow commercial work can be selected.

Where to find them:

Flickrwww.flickr.com/creativecommons

The largest, online, photo sharing site has a dedicated section for Creative Commons licensed images, filtered by license. This can also be searched through 3rd party sites like: www.compfight.com

Creative Commons Searchsearch.creativecommons.org

Search across various sources for Creative Commons licensed media.

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2.5

Creative Commons3. License Jurisdiction

The license may also specify where the image can be used, although this is rare. Images that have a country specific license should not be used online as you cannot control where the image can be accessed from.

4. Attribution

All Creative Commons licenses come with an attribution element, this requires the user of the image to link back to the original source. This usually consists of a link to the original image, the taker of the image and the license type.

For example, technology and science website wired.co.uk uses Creative Commons in its news articles and includes links at the end of its articles (http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/03/bfi-film-archive-online).

This attribution does not have to be overly prominent, but should be easy to find and to read.

Creative Commons

Non-Commercial

Attribution

No Derivatives

Public Domain

Share Alike

CC Logos explained:

When displayed in a license:

Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives

You must attribute the work, you may not use this work for commercial purposes, you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

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2.6

Public Domain and Copyright FreeOccasionally, the images you are looking for will be available under a Public Domain or Copyright Free license. In these cases the author of the work has waived their rights, which means that you can use these type of images however and wherever you like.

Anyone can contribute to image repositories or galleries which means that there are a lot of images out there. The quality of these images can vary and many are often quite poor.

However, Public Domain and Copyright Free images can be useful when you are searching for historical images, often the Copyright has expired or the original author of the image is unknown.

All Public Domain or Copyright Free images are free to download, edit, share, copy and distribute, but it is always wise to double check image licenses before you use any image.

Where to find them:

Public Domain Pictureshttp://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

Wikimedia Commonshttp://commons.wikimedia.org

Image Afterhttp://www.imageafter.com/

Flickrhttp://www.flickr.com/

Freerangehttp://freerangestock.com/index.php

Stockvaulthttp://www.stockvault.net/

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ConclusionAs with most things in life, you often get what you pay

for, and image licenses are no different. Rights Managed

images are always going to be the most expensive way

to license an image for a project, but, when the quality

of that image is important, this is a cost worth paying.

Creative Commons and Copyright Free images are the

cheapest way to obtain licensed images, especially for

a busy blog or news service. They are free, but the quality

and suitability of these images means the search for the

right image can take a long time and often prove fruitless.

In between these two extremes sits Royalty Free, a happy

medium of the two, providing a wide ranges of subjects

at an affordable cost.

Which license you choose depends on your budget, your

need and the suitability of the images available, but, with

so many options, there is a way to find a suitable, properly

licensed image for whatever need, budget or application.

It is worth remembering that whatever fee you are paying

for the use of an image, you are paying for the author’s

time, experience and expertise.

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