The Rules of Using Stock Photo Websites

Stock photo websites are a way to earn from your images and to source photos for projects – but licensing rules matter on both sides. The keys are understanding licences, rights and what sells. Here are the rules of using stock photo websites.

Being able to access and use photos that other photographers shot can be valuable when you are building a website, creating a video or putting together a presentation. Either way, there are rules to using stock photo websites that you need to be aware of so you don’t find yourself in hot water.

What is a Stock Photo Website?

Stock websites are libraries of photographs, vectors, illustrations and videos that are available to use by the public. You might have heard of Shutterstock, one of the biggest online stock photo websites.

Stock websites are fantastic resources for content creators, photographers, business owners and videographers who are looking for b-roll, placeholders or reference images for their projects.

Some stock photo websites allow you to download content for free, others will charge you per download. By downloading a photo you are given a licence by the website to use the photo based upon their guidelines. Breaking these guidelines can end up in legal issues so it’s best to stick to the rules.

4 Types of Licences with Stock Photos

1. Royalty-Free Licence
A royalty-free licence gives you the allowance to use pictures multiple times after paying a nominal fee. They are the most affordable for commercial activity. However, this means the images are not exclusive to you and may result in you seeing the same photo you’re using on other people’s websites/social media too.

This can devalue the exclusivity and reputation of your brand/company if it’s a popular stock photo.

2. Rights Managed Licence
A rights-managed licence is usage-specific rather than exclusive: it names the media, the territory, the duration and the print run you are buying, and the same picture can be licensed to somebody else for a different use at the same time. Exclusivity is an expensive extra you buy on top. If you are buying a photo using this type of licence it means you get to set the usage limitations according to location, time, and distribution volume with the original photographer.

But if you decided to use the image(s) in a manner outside of the original licence, a new licence would be needed. As you can imagine entering into such an agreement of rights and ownership purchasing rights managed licences content can be expensive.

3. Extended Licence
An extended licence is an add-on to a royalty-free one, covering the things a standard RF licence excludes: goods for resale, unlimited print runs, and use in electronic templates. It is not a midpoint between royalty-free and rights-managed, and rights-managed is often the narrower of the two rather than the broader.

An EL (extended licence) permits the use of stock photos in a sellable product. For example, suppose you have calendars advertising or raising funds for your business.

4. Editorial Use
This is the important restriction on the list. An editorial-only image has no model release and no property release behind it, so it may be used to illustrate a news story, an article or a newsletter but never to advertise, promote or imply that anybody in it endorses anything. That is the whole reason the category exists.

Most Popular Stock Photos Websites

These are 8 of our favourite stock photo websites for photographers to download images from. Scroll down to see the best free stock photo websites too.

• Shutterstock
• Burst by Shopify
• Adobe Stock
• Pexels
• Freepik
• Pixabay
• Unsplash
• iStock

What Photos Can’t You Use on the Internet?

Doing a Google (or similar) search for a certain type of photo and downloading it to use on your own website, social media or other type of content is not allowed. Google is not a stock photo website. It is a search engine which displays images from millions of websites, many of which will not be stock photo websites.

Too many people download photos from Google searches believing them to be free use and it lands people in trouble. Even if you attribute and credit the original photographer, it still doesn’t mean you’re allowed to use the photo without prior permission.

To stay on the safe side of using images on the internet that don’t belong to you, only download images from stock photo websites.

What Does Photo Attribution Mean?

When downloading photos from free stock websites you may be asked to give a photo attribution wherever you post the image. This means you need to credit, in writing, close to the image, who took the original image.

This is not always mandatory, but check when downloading the photo. Websites such as Pexels do ask that you credit the photographer when using the shot.

If you’re not sure about what information you should include in your attribution then Creative Commons suggests a handy acronym; TASL, which stands for Title, Author, Source, Licence.

The title being the name of the image (if there is one), the author being the original photographer, the source is where you downloaded it from and then add in the type of licence you are using the image under. It could be a good idea to hyperlink this attribution to the original page where you downloaded the photo.

Can You Sell Photos from a Stock Website?

Unless you have explicit permission then, no. Most licences for stock photos do not allow you to sell the content again commercially or re-upload it to another stock photo website under your own account.

It is highly unlikely that the original photographer would ever sign away their rights to allow someone else to make money off their creation. You would have to have a very good reason and relationship with the original photographer to allow this.

What is Creative Commons?

When downloading a photo from a stock website you might see the acronym CC – what does this mean?

Creative Commons is an NGO that provides free copyright licences that give the public permission to share and use creative works under the creator’s condition.

These conditions may require you to give a written attribution or possibly limit what you can do or how you can use the image. Visit the CC website.

Free Photo Stock Websites for Photographers

These are our recommendations for the best online free stock photo website for photographers. While the images on these sites will be free to download, you may need to leave attributions wherever you repost or publish the shot.

• Pexels
• Pixabay
• Freepik
• Stockvault
• Picjumbo
• Rawpixel
• Unsplash

Selling Your Own Photographs Through Stock

The other half of stock is contributing to it, and the rules there are different again. You upload to a library, they set the retail price, and you take a royalty on each sale – typically somewhere between fifteen and forty per cent depending on the library and on whether you have agreed to be exclusive to them. Exclusivity pays a higher rate and closes off every other outlet, so it is worth deciding early rather than drifting into it.

Two things decide whether any of it earns. The first is keywording. Nobody browses a stock library; they search it, so an image without accurate, thorough keywords is invisible however good it is. The second is releases.

Model and property releases are the single biggest reason submissions get rejected. If a person is recognisable in a photograph you intend to license commercially, you need a signed model release from them – and from a parent or guardian if they are under 18. If a private building, a distinctive interior or somebody’s pet is the subject, you need a property release from the owner. Without those, the library can only accept the picture as editorial-only, which cuts it off from the advertising and marketing budgets that pay the most.

Expect a review process, and expect rejections early on for noise, soft focus, poor keywording or a missing release. That is normal, and it is how you learn what a library will take.

The Rules of Using Stock Photo Websites: Final Words

The ultimate rule of using stock photo websites is to pay close attention to the terms of the licence that you are downloading the image on. While we would generally recommend to use your own photos and videos to promote your website, brand or channel, this might not always be possible.

The ease of high-quality content on stock sites can make your company look professional and appealing. But stay within the rules, don’t download images outside of stock websites and you should be fine!

Bookmark and save this article about using stock photo websites so you can find it again in the future. If you’ve got any other questions about photography chances are you’ll find the answers in our other articles and tutorials below.

For more, read our guide to make money from photography.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do stock photo websites work?

Photographers upload images that buyers licence for a fee, with the site taking a commission. As a contributor you earn per download; as a buyer you pay to licence images for your projects under set terms.

What licences do stock photos use?

Commonly royalty-free (pay once, use many times within terms) and rights-managed (licensed for a specific use, time and region). Always read the licence, it sets how, where and how long you can use an image.

How do I make money selling stock photos?

Upload a large, consistent library of in-demand, well-keyworded images to reputable sites, and keep adding. Earnings per image are small, so volume, quality and good keywords matter most.

What sells well as stock photography?

Authentic, useful images, people and lifestyle, business and technology, genuine diversity, local culture, and clean concept shots. Research what buyers search for and fill gaps rather than copying saturated subjects.

Do I need model or property releases for stock?

Yes, for commercial stock you usually need signed model releases for recognisable people and property releases for some private property and trademarks. Sites reject unreleased commercial images, so get releases upfront.