Does royalty free mean copyright free?
No. A royalty is a payment made to the copyright owner in order for you to use an image. Royalties are generally paid per use or as a percentage of the profit made. The term Royalty Free means that once the image is licensed you can use it as many times as you want without paying an additional fee each time. Then what IS copyright free? Items in the public domain are copyright free and can be used by anyone for anything. Creative works generally enter the public domain in one of three ways… 1. The copyright has expired. In most cases, copyright expires 50 to 70 years after the death of the author/creator. But this time limit varies among media and country and in some cases an extension can be granted. For instance an extension may be granted to the estate of an artist. You should be very sure of your source for public domain material because it is tricky enough to figure out the expiration date for milk, must less for a creative work. List of copyright lengths by country… [link] 2.
