What Does Royalty-Free Mean?

Posted by
Sharon Koss
Jun 3, 2007

What Does Royalty-Free Mean?

A royalty-free item could be many different things, clip-art, photos, music, movies and so on. Royalty-free does not mean the item is free.

It means that the purchaser may use the item multiple times without having to pay a royalty fee each time the item is used; according to the End User License Agreement
Royalty-free items save the buyer a lot of money if they plan to use the items often
Royalty-free items are usually priced according to the file size
A good example would be a graphic used in the company logo

End User License Agreement

The license agreement may have specifications about:

Where, when or how the items can be used
Possibly only for specific projects
Every license agreement may be different, depending on the item
The artist or the company who owns it

The artist still owns the copyright, as long as the End User License Agreement is followed by the purchaser. The purchaser should read the End User License Agreement carefully and be sure they understand its allowable uses. Most licenses allow the buyer to use the items as they are, no changes can be made to the items, nor can the purchaser resell the items to someone else.

Watermarks

Some items have embedded watermarks that cannot be removed. The watermarks are included to protect the artist and the purchasers.

Royalty-Free become Stock Items

Many companies who need graphics and music of some type will purchase royalty-free items. These items become stock images, photos, music and so on. Stock items are used freely by anyone employed by that business. They are commonly stored on the network or CD's.

Find Items on the Web

You can find free royalty-free items by searching for them on the web. Free graphics also have an End User License Agreement or Terms of Use Agreement. Be sure you know which type you have before you use them.

Simply said

Royalty-free means all fees are paid at the time of the purchase, instead of every time the item is used, thus, for budgeting purposes, the item is much cheaper.