I am Content Manager, Researcher, and Author in StockPhotoSecrets.com and Stock Photo Press and its many stock media-oriented publications. I am a passionate communicator with a love for visual imagery and an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge. Lucky enough to enter the wonderful world of stock photography working side-by-side with experienced experts, I am happy to share my research, insights, and advice about image licensing, stock photography offers, and the stock media industry with everyone in the creative community. My background is in Communication and Journalism, and I also love literature and performing arts.
Updated 12 Apr, 2024 Amos Struck Industry Expert and FounderAmos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.
Reviewed by Amos Struck Amos Struck Industry Expert and FounderAmos Struck, a renowned expert with over two decades in the stock photography industry, is known for his profound expertise in both stock imagery and artificial intelligence (AI). He is the founder of StockPhotoSecrets.com and a driving force behind the innovative AI-driven platform, Stockphotos.com. His pioneering work in visual AI is marked by co-founding Ximilar AI. Amos also established the Microstock Expo Conference, a key event in the stock photography sector. As a regular speaker at major industry conferences like DMLA and a prominent member of CEPIC, he consistently contributes to the industry's growth and evolution through a blend of technological innovation and market insight.
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<p>Shutterstock Licenses explained by our experts - Standard vs Enhanced ([wpsm_custom_meta type=date field=year])](https://www.stockphotosecrets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/shutterstock-license-explained.jpg)
Shutterstock is one of the most popular and successful stock photo agencies for a reason: we all love Shutterstock's outstanding quality and extensive variety when it comes creative assets. But, do we all fully know and understand the Shutterstock license? Today we are going deep into Shutterstock’s license agreement. We’ll explain all their terms, the details and nuances, and give you all the relevant info about it in a easy-to-understand way.
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13 days leftThis way, you’ll not only make sure you’re using Shutterstock photos correctly but also that you are getting every possible benefit from them, too! Let’s get started, shall we? By the way, Shutterstock has a cool new platform full of tools for creatives, named Creative Flow. And we know three ways to get Shutterstock Creative Flow for free, you may want to learn them! If you still not found the best image, go ahead and use our search form below:
Before we go into the actual fine print, let’s revise the principles of Shutterstock’s usage agreement, which you can find here, to start from an informed base. We'll preface this by stating since Shutterstock.com is one of the best stock photo sites of today, and have been consistently at the top of the stock photography industry since its launch in 2003, we believe their licensing terms are not only worth knowing for the sake of using Shutterstock content but also because they are an example of a stock media licensing agreement that inspires those of many other stock agencies. If you use stock photos regularly, knowing about the Shutterstock license helps you understand how online media licensing works. We hope that reading this will help you not only understand how Shutterstock operates, but also why they charge what they charge for their service. For more information about the costs of Shutterstock stock images, do check out our in-depth article with everything you need to know about Shutterstock pricing! You'll find details about on-demand purchasing, monthly subscriptions, annual subscriptions, multimedia subscription plans, extended license costs, and more to save money and find the perfect option for your budget limitations. And if you want to learn all about Shutterstock, make sure to read our Shutterstock review. Everything, from company history to payment method to bonus features, is in there! For even more info, our Shutterstock statistics report has all the relevant numbers to understand this agency better. Interested in selling your images at Shutterstock? Then check our Shutterstock Contributor review!
Shutterstock operates on the basis of a Royalty-Free license agreement, meaning the fee you pay for an image (whether it is via a stock photo subscription or if you purchase on-demand packs) is the one and the only fee you’ll ever pay for it. Once licensed and paid for, you will not be required to pay royalties for the use of said image ever again. Keep in mind the same Royalty-Free license applies to any images you download with either a subscription or an image pack or through the weekly free files, which makes them even more valuable, as most other free photos from the web are under Creative Commons or the public domain, but Shutterstock's are all verified and policed, making them ideal for online advertising and similar marketing purposes.
On Shutterstock, you can find multi-seat licenses for teams and also corporate agreements for companies and brands. However, the most common is the personal, individual license: one customer uses their individual Shutterstock account to license (download) and uses photos in various projects. This is the license option we are analyzing here today. [Note: you can find out the status of your account –individual, multi-seat, or corporate– in your account settings].
Shutterstock has two license types available, albeit both royalty-free. One is the Standard Royalty-Free License for using the images for commercial purposes: marketing, advertising, branding, and all other uses linked to business activities, looking to generate profit (there's also an Extended license for this type). The other is the Editorial license, for editorial use only, which has a different set of rights and limitations. If you're in doubt as to which license you need, we got your back with our article explaining when to use a commercial license and when to use an editorial one. You might be interested in knowing that the company now has Editorial Subscription Plans available. Today we are focusing on the former (Commercial Use License), as it’s the one that concerns the most creatives and business owners reading us. If you’re a publisher, keep reading though! The Commercial license has applications for blog post images, e-books, and print publishing too. However, you can also check this article that explains editorial stock images, and read about where to find the best editorial images online, you’ll find Shutterstock Editorial is a very good provider!
Shutterstock is a high-quality stock media service for creative professionals, thus it offers more than just still images. They have dedicated libraries for stock footage and stock audio, and each of these media formats has its respective licensing terms. If you're interested in video content, you'll be happy to know that Shutterstock has a very convenient video license, and has recently added an Enhanced Video License option with unlimited audience size coverage. (If you are interested in learning about this kind of license, read this full Shutterstock Video License explanatory guide!) In this article, though, we are studying the Image License as stock photos and stock images are still the number one media creatives after and the most extensively used across platforms and mediums, both as tangible media and digital reproduction.
UPDATE: Since 2023, Offset, the agency's premium stock photo service, has been integrated into Shutterstock's main platform, and its entire collection with 1.2M+ premium images is available directly on the Shutterstock website, starting at $249 per image. Discover the Offset collection right here!
