With the rising
popularity of royalty-free stock and more photo agencies getting on
the Web, designers and print buyers never had so much creative power
over their print projects.
Finding, purchasing and using stock
photos is now considerably faster and easier than even a couple of
years ago. But there are a host of potential pitfalls among the possibilities.
Things like usage rights, exclusivity, licensing and pricing can make
using stock images confusing and even problematic.
Increased creative power is the largest benefit of accessing stock
photo agencies online. Instead of describing your project to a photo
researcher over the phone, or thumbing through thick stock photography
books, you can quickly and easily search by keyword for that perfect
image online.
After locating a suitable image, you can download a low-res photo
from the Web for your comp. Instead of having to wait for transparencies
or a CD to arrive overnight, you can immediately continue working.
Royalty-free stock agencies have made purchasing images much simpler.
Low price and unlimited usage rights are two big benefits of royalty-free
stock. Even illustration agencies are following suit to make more
of their images royalty-free. But there are limitations to these benefits
over traditional or Òrights-protectedÓ images. Traditional stock agencies
can offer you exclusivity and a massive pool of choices. There are
millions of image choices available from traditional stock houses
while there are thousands of royalty free images available. Even with
thousands of choices, with such a large demand for royalty-free images,
there is the potential for the same image to be used over and over,
even by your competition.
To avoid this duplication, reputable stock houses offer Òrights protectedÓ
stock and track information about sales, including the purchaser,
when it was licensed and for what purpose. Ask yourself this simple
question: Would your client be upset if the photo you used for the
annual report cover is also the major visual for a disease awareness
campaign? If so, use traditional stock.
Licensing traditional
stock
Licensing traditional stock can be confusing. The price of traditional
stock is based on how you will use the image. This includes image
size, print run, distribution and length of distribution. You can
also request exclusive rights for geographic territory, a specific
time period or exclusivity in your industry. If you want to reuse
an image, or reprint a job, you have to renegotiate and pay to use
the image again. If you are designing for a client, consider having
the stock agency bill the client directly for images. That way they
are responsible for policing the use of the images and paying for
reprint rights. Although royalty-free images have unlimited usage
rights, there are restrictions on the type of use. Most if not all
royalty-free agencies restrict the use of their images on items for
resale. Products like greeting cards, book jackets, CD covers, and
calendars are off limits. But many agencies will allow you to upgrade
by paying a licensing fee. Each agency handles licensing a little
differently so you should review this carefully. Using images that
contain identifiable models (people) for sensitive issues is a problem
that creative professionals need to avoid. Basically, any topic that
might be embarrassing or defame the character of a person or product
in an image could cause legal problems. Check the fine print for information
about getting express written consent.
illustration
Art
Soup www.artsoup.com
Artville www.artville.com
Birch Design Studios www.birchdesign.com
Master Series www.masterseries.com
traditional
stock
FPG International www.fpg.com
Image Bank www.imagebank.com
Index Stock Imagery www.indexstock.com Nonstock www.nonstock.com
Photos ToGo www.photostogo.com
Stockbyte www.stockbyte.com
Tony Stone www.tonystone.com
West Stock www.weststock.com
royalty-free
stock
Classic PIO Partners www.classicpartners.com
Comstock www.comstock.com
Corbis www.corbis.com
Corel www.corel.com
Definitive Stock www.definitivestock.com
Eyewire www.eyewire.com
Hollingsworth Studios www.hollingsworthstudios.com
Image Farm www.imagefarm.com
John Foxx Images www.johnfoxx.com
PhotoDisc www.photodisc.com
PhotoSphere www.photosphere.com
PhotoSpin www.photospin.com
Picture Quest www.picturequest.com
Rubber Ball www.rubberball.com
Seattle Support Group www.ssgrp.com
The Stock Market www.stockmarketphoto.com Transmission Digital Pub.
www.transmissiondigital.com
Visual Language www.visuallanguage.com
Vivid Details www.vividdetails.com
Winter
2000 CONTENTS
