The short answer
- Royalty-free: the image is copyrighted. A license (paid or free) lets you use it repeatedly without per-use fees, within the license terms.
- Copyright-free / public domain: no copyright applies, for example because protection expired or the author waived it (such as CC0). You may use it without a license, although trademarks, people shown, or privacy rights can still matter.
- “Free to download”: says nothing about the license. Many images that are easy to download are neither royalty-free for you nor in the public domain.
Comparison
| Royalty-free | Copyright-free / public domain | Rights-managed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copyright exists? | Yes | No | Yes |
| License needed? | Yes (one-time or free) | No | Yes, per specific use |
| Typical sources | Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, iStock, Unsplash, Pexels | Old works, government works (US), CC0 collections | Getty Images editorial, agencies |
| Common restrictions | Seat or print-run limits, no resale, sensitive-use rules | Model/property releases may still be needed | Time period, territory, medium, size |
Where website owners get caught
- A designer used a stock image under their own license, and the license did not transfer to the client.
- A free-trial or comp image (often watermark-free preview) went live without a paid license.
- An image labelled “royalty-free” on a third-party site was actually copied from a stock agency.
- An editorial-only image was used in marketing, ads, or on a product page.
- Nobody kept the license record, so the business cannot prove the license it did buy.
How to stay on the safe side
Keep, for every image on your site, the source, the license type, the account or invoice it was bought with, and the date. For an existing site, start with an inventory: a free ImgCompliance scan checks up to 100 images and flags those that match stock-platform sources, so you know which license records to look for first. Our image licensing checklist covers the documentation side.
Not legal advice
This guide explains general terms. Specific license terms differ by platform and change over time, and copyright rules differ by country. For a concrete dispute, consult a qualified lawyer.