Royalty free images can be most beneficial if used with basic creativity

Posted by AmandaTom on October 16th, 2014

Creativity is one such quotient that is present in all of us, some way or the other. It is on us to harness it in every possible way to give regular and mundane things an interesting edge and twist. Royalty free images are one such ingredient which can be used for such purposes. We can use the free stock photos to make our official or academic projects, home decor and literary pieces look wonderful. While intellectual property rights are a serious thing today these photographs, being free of usage barriers, welcome a lot of scope for showcasing your creativity in style.

For example, website developers are in constant need of royalty free images. Website designing require a lot of visual inputs. Buying photographs exclusively for each website is not feasible, logically or economically. Hence come the need of the free stock photos, devoid of copyright issues and the debates of legit and non legit photographs. You can download the photographs, print and laminate them to use for interior decoration, but, it would be nice to know if the rights pertaining to the photograph allow so.

There are a few cautions that should be remembered to avoid infringement of copyright hassles, which are as follows:
1.    Create an account in the concerned websites which have the point royalty free images stated in their terms and conditions. Read the terms and conditions well.
2.    After creating an account in one such website, acquire permission to use the photographs for general purposes. Look out if that is stated in the terms and conditions page or not.
3.    Know the number of times you can use them.
4.    Credit the photographer. The licensing conditions stated in the website will tell you how exactly to do it.

Though the photographs are royalty free images, permissions are required for the different genres of photographs used. If we subdivide the category of free stock photos, the detailed break up would be:
•    Non commercial license which entails non-commercial use of the photographs in blogs or websites not meant for advertising a product or service.
•    Commercial License where the usage is in business generating social platforms.
•    Common creative license which includes an image when used is similar to the stock image is categorized under derived image clause.

Therefore, read carefully to find out the type of license the photographs are falling under. To know the demarcations and allotments between commercial, non commercial and derivative are important because one wrong move can lead you to legal hassles. The advantages of the free stock photos are that they are easily available and you can use them umpteen numbers of times. Both quality and quantity are ensured and you spend no money as they are free of charge.

While using the free stock photos¸ remember to leave spaces on all the four borders. Many topics require inscription on the photograph, that is, typography is required. If you are confused while reading the license agreement of the website, make sure that you contact them online to clear your doubts before downloading the royalty free images.

Make your blog or website exclusive with the use of royalty free images. Read the license agreement of the website well before using the free stock photos.