What is Royalty-free?

Royalty-free is a type of license for copyrighted intellectual property, such as images and video. The license allows you to use the content for multiple applications in multiple media, without having to pay a royalty for each use; you pay just once for use of a particular image or video. For example, you can use an image on your website, in a print ad campaign, and web banners without having to pay for each use. And you can use the image globally and without time limits.

In contrast, rights managed licensing gives you a license to use a piece of content just for specific media, regions, industries, etc. For example, in magazine print ads for the food industry, only in the US, for the duration of one month. None of Shutterstock's content carries these limitations.