What’s in the Small Print: Stock Image Licensing

Tanmay Desai, CEO and co-founder of Truestock, breaks down the essentials of stock image licensing in this article. With practical guidance on avoiding licensing pitfalls, this piece is a must-read for marketers working with stock imagery. Read below to learn more.

My inbox has never been this full with queries about licensing. It’s something I wish happened more often! In light of what happened with ‘that image’ bought from an international stock library, I'll answer the two most asked questions we’ve had recently.

Firstly, when you purchase/download an image or video from a stock library, you are technically buying only a license for its usage, instead of the actual copyright to the content. Hence you must really understand the Content License Agreement you are agreeing to before you make your purchase.

Royalty-free stock images from Truestock, a local stock library where all content is produced ethically.

Q: What is the difference between an Editorial License and Creative/Commercial License?

Editorial License

An editorial license permits use of photographs that have captured factual real-world events - without commercial intent.

• These are common in newspapers.
• Such images don’t typically need a model or property release to be signed by the parties involved (though it is ethical to do so where possible anyways).
• When published, these images are often credited with the photographer’s name and source.
• Images cannot be used to promote or advertise products, brands, or services - basically anything other than a news story.

(Example subject matter: Photos of people at a protest, war zone, public gathering, photos of artwork with intellectual property attached to it etc.)

Commercial License (Also known as Creative License or General Use License)

A commercial or creative license allows photos to be used for commercial campaigns, promotions or marketing collateral.

• These require a signed Model Release and/or a Property Release especially if the property is distinguishable. This is often noted/confirmed on the stock library website.
• Even though you are buying content under a Commercial license does not guarantee ability to use it in absolutely any commercial application.
• Stock libraries usually have clauses outlining what the images cannot be used for, and these are generally listed under the Sensitive Use or Restricted Use clauses (explained below).

Q: Is it OK to use ‘this’ image for a campaign? (Translation: does the image use fall under the Sensitive Use or Restricted Use clause of your Content License Agreement?)

This can certainly be a grey area. What’s defined as Sensitive or Restricted use cases can vary depending on each stock library’s Content License Agreement.

• Sensitive use of images might be allowed by a stock library with an accompanying disclaimer about the image(s) being a stock image.
• Whereas topics under the Restricted use clauses mean it’s a no go. You just can’t use the image in association with a particular topic.
• Sensitive Use themes typically encompass but not limited to mental health, other health and disease related issues, drug trials, alcohol to name a few.
• Restricted Use themes typically encompass but not limited to pornography, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, use of narcotics to name a few.

Key Insights

At Truestock we are very fortunate and thankful to have clients that just flick us an email when they are uncertain. No one wants an image being pulled from a campaign once it’s live. To avoid this, here’s what we recommend to stay safe:

• If you have the slightest bit of doubt, get in touch with the stock library to check whether the application falls under a Sensitive or Restricted use area.
• At Tuestock, when a client does so, we request to see actual applications/mock-ups to understand the full context.
• If our assessment is that the topic is sensitive in nature, we get in touch with the photographer(s) who get in touch with the model(s) and get a written approval (or rejection).
• Only once we have a written approval from parties involved that we proceed to give our clients a green light to purchase.
• Here’s a link to our Content License Agreement.

If in doubt about licensing or usage, always get in touch with the stock library to be safe.

There’s certainly more rules that come with the usage and I’m happy to answer any queries about other topics such as royalty-free usage, using images on packaging, usage on social media and beyond.

Tanmay Desai is the CEO and co-founder of Truestock.co.nz. A local New Zealand stock library that ethically produces all its content by paying the models directly (a world first), and paying the highest commission in the world to its contributors. Tan@truestock.co.nz