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A lot of confusion is made around the terms Royalty Free and Rights Managed images when we are talking about the stock photography market.

Royalty free doesn’t means that the image is free. It means that the image, once purchased has no more Royalties to pay. When someone purchases a Royalty free image, that image may be used for several projects along time, no more fees required. You should read the image licence agreement to check the kind of projects where you can use the image.

Rights managed are another kind of licenced images. This kind of images have their rights managed and are usually more expensive. You have to mention to the agency that manages the image rights where you are going to use the image, for how long you intend to use it, the kind of project you are using the image into, etc etc (long form to fill). the final price for the image “aquisition” is set according to those variables. The image will never be “yours” to keep. This kind of images are usually the best ones, but the word is EXPENSIVE!

Royalty free | Rights managed