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Free Website Content
Royalty Free - Stock Photography
Royalty-Free Stock Photography
By Sharon Housley
What Is Royalty-Free?
Royalty-Free refers to material that may
be used for profit without paying royalties to the original
creator.
What Is Stock Photography?
Stock photos are existing images that
can be purchased and licensed for commercial or personal
use.
What Are The Benefits Of Using Royalty-Free
Stock Photography?
Webmasters and publishers can keep their
website and ad campaign costs down by using royalty-free
images in their marketing materials and webpages.
How Much Do Stock Photos Cost?
The prices of stock photos vary. Some
micro-stock photography websites charge as little as
$0.99 per photo, while other stock photo websites charge
several hundreds of dollars for the use of a particular
photograph. In most cases, when you purchase a license
to use a photo, the rights are non-exclusive, meaning
that others can purchase and use the same image in their
marketing materials and websites. On the other hand,
if you purchase "exclusive" rights to a photo, it means
that you are the only one allowed to use that specific
photo.
What Is Micro-Stock Photography?
Micro-Stock Photography is an offshoot
of traditional stock photography. Micro-stock photography
generally refers to a stock photography company that
sources their images almost exclusively through the
Internet. They often accept images from amateurs and
hobbyists, and sell the images royalty-free at a very
low rate.
What About These Royalty-Free Clip-Photo
CDs Available On The Market?
Stock photos are often available on CD-ROMs
containing hundreds of royalty-free images, at prices
ranging from $30 to $300 per disc. Web Design Elements
( http://www.webdesign-elements.com
) is an example of one such disc vendor. Web Design
Elements offers CD collections of stock photos, logos,
and web layouts, all related to a specific theme.
How Do Photographers Protect Their
Images On The Stock Photography Websites?
Photographers use a variety of techniques
to protect their photos from being stolen or used without
permission. Some photos are encrypted, while others
are only viewable at a low resolution, or re-sized to
thumbnail proportions prior to purchasing a license.
Still others embed watermarks in their photos.
Can I Use Stock Photos Free Of Charge?
Not usually. Stock photography websites
contain thousands of existing photographs that can be
licensed for specific uses. Legally, you cannot use
a photo you find on the web without the photographer's
permission. In regard to copyright laws, businesses
must be very careful when using unlicensed photos --
the penalties and fines for improperly using an unlicensed
photo can be steep. Keep in mind that there are also
risks in using "free" photographs. Many of the free
photo websites contain collaborative works from multiple
photographers and artists. While the websites may attempt
to monitor the images in their collections to avoid
violation of copyright laws, there are no guarantees.
If you opt to use photographs or images from a free
portal, it is important to keep this in mind.
There are a number of options available
to webmasters and publishers in need of images for web
content, marketing campaigns, or packaging. Regardless
of the website selected, be sure to read the agreement
and licensing terms carefully to ensure that you are
adhering to the guidelines.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource
box is included and the links are active. A courtesy
copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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