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Types of stock

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Public domain (PD)



Example of a public domain stock photo, showing part of the Chicago skyline.
In relation to photography and graphics, public domain (PD) means the image is free to use without purchasing a license, and can be used for commercial or personal purposes. Works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired,have been forfeited, or are inapplicable.

Royalty-free (RF)


In photography and the illustration industry, royalty-free (RF) refers to a copyright license where the user has the right to use the picture without many restrictions based on one-time payment to the licensor. The user can therefore use the image in several projects without having to purchase any additional licenses. RF licenses can not be given on an exclusive basis. In stock photography, RF is one of the common licenses sometimes contrasted with Rights Managed licenses and often employed in subscription-based or microstock photography business models.

Rights-managed (RM)


Rights Managed (RM) in the stock photo industry (sometimes called "licensed images") refers to a copyright license which, if purchased by a user, allows the one-time use of the photo as specified by the license. If the user wants to use the photo for other uses an additional license needs to be purchased. RM licences can be given on a non-exclusive or exclusive basis. In stock photography RM is one of the two common license types together with royalty-free, subscription and microstock photography being business models often confused as separate license types (both use the royalty-free license type).

In popular culture

  • In March 2015, Vince Vaughn and the cast for the film Unfinished Business, 20th Century Fox and several stock photo agencies teamed up to create press material that satirized the stereotypical style of business-themed stock photos.

Recent developments (2000-present)

The early microstock company iStockphoto was founded in May 2000. Originally a free stock imagery website, it transitioned into its current micropayment model in 2001.Helping pioneer the subscription-based model of stock photography, Shutterstock was founded in 2003 with a monthly subscription fee. Online since 2000 as a royalty free stock photography website, in 2004 Dreamstime was founded as new microstock agency. Other stock agencies with new business models around this time included fotoLibra, which opened to the public in 2005, and Can Stock Photo, which debuted in 2004. By 2007 Dreamstime was competing with Istockphoto, Fotolia and Shutterstock, all expanded into major microstock companies. In 2013, Crew.co launched Unsplash, a free stock imagery website, operating under Creative Commons Zero. In March 2013 microstock company Depositphotos launched Clashot, a service that allows smartphone users instantly upload photos to the photobank from their devices following by Fotolia that launched very similar Fotolia Instant  later that year.
Between the 1990s and the mid-2000s, Bill Gates' Corbis Images and Getty Images combined purchased more than 40 stock photo agencies. iStockphoto, or iStock.com, was acquired by Getty in 2006. In February 2009,Jupitermedia Corporation sold their online stock images division, Jupiterimages, to Getty Images for $96 million in cash,including the sites stock.xchng and StockXpert. In 2005 Scoopt started a photo news agency for citizen journalism enabling the public to upload and sell breaking news images taken with cameraphones. In 2007 Scoopt was purchased by Getty Images, which closed it in 2009. In 2012 Shutterstock became the first microstock agency to complete an initial public offering, with the company's shares reaching a $2.5 billion market value by late 2013. The stock photo company Fotolia announced that it would be acquired by Adobe for $800 million on December 11, 2014.

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