The term Stock Photography refers to a supply of photographs which are licensed for specific use, most commonly to fulfil the needs of creative and design-assignments, without the need to hire a photographer. Nowadays, stock images can be purchased from agents, and delivered online.
In total there are three different types of stock photography:
- Macro, also known as Traditional stock photography, refers to highly priced and exclusive stock.
- Micro, refers to low price and non-exclusive stock photography.
- Mid, which is a term used for all the stock photography in between Macro and Micro.
Stock images can be filed at either an agency, or an online supplier. Once a photographer has entered a contract with the supplier, the supplier or agency will negotiate the licensing fees on the photographer's behalf in exchange for either a percentage of their sale, or in some cases, full rights to the image. The pricing of stock photography is determined by the size of the image, how long the image is to be used, and what the image is to be used for as well as the audience of readership, and whether royalties are to be paid to the image creator or owner.
Stock photography can be advertised with a number of added-benefit licenses. Two of these licenses include Royalty-Free, and Rights-Managed stock photography. A Royalty-Free license, often advertised as RF, means that once bought, the buyer may use the image as much as they like without having to pay additional fees every time the image is used. Purchasing royalty-free photography enables the buyer to use the image multiple times for multiple purposes whilst only paying a one-off fee. There's no limit on how many times the buyer can reproduce a royalty-free image and there is no time limit on when the buyer can use the image. However, when stock images are listed as royalty-free, buyers are unable to claim or buy exclusive rights to the image and the photographer may sell the image as many times as they want.
Rights-managed licenses, often advertised as RM or "licensed images", provide the buyer with assurance that the image will not be used by anybody else in a conflicting manner. Rights managed images often allow a much larger print run per image than the general Royalty-Free license. A RM agreement may include exclusivity and usually recognizes that this represents added value. However, not all rights-managed images are exclusive, specific terms and conditions can be found in the agreement between the buyer and seller.
The value of a license is determined by the use of the image. The terms of the usage are clearly defined and negotiated to enable the purchaser to receive maximum value, as well as clear protection in their purchase by a level of exclusivity.
Throughout the years, stock photography has become very popular amongst creative artists and designers. There are currently numerous online suppliers of free stock photos and free royalty free images which enable additional parties to purchase and instantly download stock photos for a small, one-time fee.
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