royalty free basically means you pay a one time fee to use the image. It's a pain when searching for "free" images eh.

[en.wikipedia.org...]

Just to say -- Unless you want a very specific image, you can almost certainly find what you're looking for on sites that are a lot cheaper than Getty. Some stock photo sites charge a small price for each picture. I use a site that has a membership fee, after which you can download their images legally - until your membership comes due again.

But, yeah, as maccas said, royalty free basically means that you pay once in a lump sum instead of paying a royalty each time you use the image.

[edited by: Beagle at 10:35 pm (utc) on Dec. 21, 2006]

royalty free basically means you pay a one time fee to use the image.

Aaaaaahhh!

That explains an awful lot about some legal letters from Getty images.

They should frankly have been more specific at the start :)

Glad I didn't fight them now :)

...it seems to suggest u have to pay like 300GBP...

That would be for a high res image. If you want an image to use on your website, you'll only need the lo-res file size (Getty: 1-3MB - 72 dpi - 9"x12" - RGB), which usually costs around £100.

Also, bear in mind that cost is dependant upon usage. If you're using images to illustrate your online articles, ie, you're not using them in advertisements, promotional literature, sales pages, etc, then you can ask for editorial rates. These bring costs down substantially.

Caution: it's easier to get editorial rates out of some libraries than others...

I use a site that has a membership fee, after which you can download their images legally - until your membership comes due again.

More and more libraries are offering images on a subscription basis. It's money in the bank for them and great value for users (if you're downloading a sufficient volume of images to offset the subscription charges and can be certain that that particular library can cater for all your imaging needs).

Syzygy

[edited by: Syzygy at 10:10 am (utc) on Dec. 22, 2006]

i know you're not supposed to give out URLs out here, but if you do a google search on the words 'morguefile' or 'sxc', then you'll get a couple of sites which provide genuinely free photos.
half of them do carry small restrictions though, so be careful - but it's only stuff like contacting the photographer first, or providing them with a credit on your site. (there's no such a thing as a free lunch!)