{"id":299,"date":"2024-10-26T16:59:20","date_gmt":"2024-10-26T16:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/?p=299"},"modified":"2022-07-01T15:10:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T15:10:43","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-royalty-free-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/?p=299","title":{"rendered":"What You Need to Know About \u201cRoyalty Free\u201d Images"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most designers love royalty free images for a reason; they are, typically, pre-formatted with creative needs in mind.\u00a0 Experienced designers use these images regularly and responsibly, but budding creatives and amateurs often misunderstand what they are all about, or simply don\u2019t care about the rules.<\/p>\n

Please consider these things when using this medium, as mistakes can be costly, and damage a designers reputation in the professional community.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Image<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cRoyalty Free\u201d does not mean \u201cTotally Free\u201d<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s easy to think that \u201cRoyalty Free\u201d means no money changes hands.\u00a0 In reality, what royalty free means is that the seller is paid a fee for unlimited use of the image, and that use is, almost without exception, reserved to non-resale purposes, such as promotional materials, marketing use, or informational purposes.\u00a0 The majority of sites which provide royalty-free images actually specify that their images cannot be used for any material or monetary gain without permission, and said permission usually does involve the payment of royalties.<\/p>\n

There is no such thing as \u201cCopyright Free\u201d<\/h4>\n

This is the most common error many new professionals and every amateurs make.\u00a0 Under U.S. and International law, any image created is immediately copyrighted by the creator \u2013 the only differences from government to government are fair use and statutes of limitation. Purchasing the rights to use an image without paying a royalty is just that; the right to use<\/em>, not<\/em> ownership.\u00a0 Photographers and photography companies make their money through sale of rights permissions.\u00a0 It is the a rare instance when photographers sell the image itself (meaning the copyright) to someone who will use it in a commercial venture.\u00a0 Copyright ownership is traditionally only sold to private parties for personal use (i.e. \u2013 wedding photos) due to the difficulty in enforcing copyright law without a clear proof of ownership.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED: The Bloggers Guide to Royalty Free Images<\/p>\n

Terms and Conditions don\u2019t just apply, they are enforced<\/em><\/h4>\n

The reason most amateurs give for violating terms and conditions of royalty-free image websites is a common refrain in business; it\u2019s only a violation if you get caught.\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s a cautionary tale involving two big boys in America\u2019s worlds of business and academia, respectively:\u00a0 Facebook and Princeton University.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

According to Grit Daily, a lawsuit filed in Federal Court by Planner5d, a company which provides royalty free design tools, seeks damages from both Facebook and Princeton University for what they claim is unauthorized use of their website to obtain scene files, which are essential for any interior design.\u00a0 While the behavior of both Facebook and Princeton are alleged and not yet proven in court, this is still a cautionary tale of why designers should ALWAYS understand the terms and conditions of a website.\u00a0 Since lawsuits are public record and, therefore, easily searched, an employer considering hiring a designer will see where they sidestepped the rules to suit their needs, and that job that designer was hoping for would become an instant memory.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/figure>\n

Even following the rules doesn\u2019t mean good<\/em> images<\/h4>\n

While royalty free images are convenient and cost effective, there are certain pitfalls to their use.\u00a0 Even under ideal conditions, many images have watermarks which cannot be removed, copyrights which are sometimes unsightly and detract from the image quality, and some images cannot be enlarged at the risk of severe image degradation.\u00a0 Worse still, some images which can be viewed cannot be saved \u2013 a practice used by many of the cheaper royalty-free suppliers.\u00a0 In some cases, the images are even coded to turn completely black when the file is sent to print or converted to a PDF or, worse still, appear dazzling on screen but are actually low-resolution 72 DPI, which print off horribly.\u00a0 Best practice is read the terms and conditions of the subscription or purchase, and contact the provider to find out if they offer royalty-free images for printing purposes.\u00a0 Some do, some don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Be smart, be fair<\/h4>\n

As a minor commentary on the state of royalty-free images and copyright abuse overall, it\u2019s safe to say that for every \u201crules are made to be broken\u201d designer out there, there are hundreds who want to do the right thing.\u00a0 Sadly, there are bad apples in every bunch, and the same applies to websites and image providers.\u00a0 The best advice is to play by the rules, do your homework, and ask around.\u00a0 Experienced professionals are a great resource for finding images and how best to legally use them.\u00a0 Creatives appreciate when others play by the rules, and when others honor their work by being willing to use them as intended.\u00a0 This can mean the difference between one-day landing that dream job or gig, and being a \u201cstarving artist\u201d because you didn\u2019t feel a need to play by the rules everyone else does.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most designers love royalty free images for a reason; they are, typically,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions\/577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}