After an uproar of several years, RF has not gone away. The world of commercial stock has accepted RF and even in some areas profits from it, and is still adjusting to it.  But there's one segment of the stock photography pie, as it turns out, that Royalty-Free does not affect: editorial photobuyers who need "exact content" photos – that is, quality images that complement the subject matter of their publishing projects.  "For this segment of the market, generic RF pictures simply don't do the job as well as specific-content RM (rights-managed) photos," says Engh.

Good news. The sky has not fallen. "Royalty-Free photos are out there," says Engh, "yes, and they sell from $1 to $50 on average (up to $500 in some cases), but they are not popular with the photobuyers and researchers at books, magazines, and any periodical or service that publishes specific-content material, which is good news for editorial stock photographers."    


    "Recently here at PhotoSource International we made a survey concerning Royalty-Free, of the photobuyers who actively purchase photos through our network (PhotoDaily, PhotoLetter). The results confirm this simple test: The question is, 'Do major editorial markets use Royalty-Free photos?' I found a good way to test this was to go right to the source. I picked out a few magazines from our own magazine rack. Here's what I found.

    "First of all, I found most of the magazines still use lots of art (illustrations) to get points across. Illustrators are alive and well. Not much RF damage there.

    "Second, the magazines featured stories assigned to either staff photographers or freelancers.  Assignment photography is still alive!

    "Third, the magazines I looked at exhibited that they were not comfortable using generic RF pictures. The few generic pictures I saw, looked like the $200 and up RF variety. How did I know they weren't $3 images? The models. They were pros, not the next-door neighbor.  And the set-up and props. The stock ice cream, pie, or cake shots were professionally executed. Also, keep this in mind:  large circulation magazines will use major stock agency pictures, whether the photos are RF or Managed-Rights, because the magazines are covered by the stock photo agency when it comes to legal matters such as model and product releases and copyright issues.
 
     "The magazines I reviewed were Readers Digest, AARP Magazine, Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly, National Geographic, and Smithsonian. They exemplify how editorial publications shy away from generic RF pictures since their commitment is to provide highly specific information for their readers. RF won't do."

    This issue of exclusivity is paramount.  Book buyers and subscribers to magazines pay for uniqueness. No publisher wants to be up-staged by a competitor using the same Royalty-Free photo in their pages, too.

TRY  IT

Engh Says, "Make this test for yourself. If you are an editorial photographer, tear out all the commercial ads in a magazine, any magazine. What's left are the editorial photos. You can usually tell a Royalty-Free photo when you see it. ('If it walks like a duck…') Depending on the periodical, you'll note the dearth of RF photos that are used."  

Well, then, where are RF pictures used?  The answer, Engh says, is in low-budget periodicals, brochures, books, regional, state, and local productions and publications, on websites, non-profit newsletters – any place where duplication of the same photo won't matter. RF has been a benefit to commercial entities that can't afford the highly professional photos licensed by major agencies.  Royalty-Free also presents opportunities for part-time photographers to earn extra pocket money, thanks to volume sales and kinder standards.


Results of the PhotoSource International Survey of 71 editorial photobuyers/photo researchers are as follows:

Q:  "Do Editorial Photobuyers Use RF (Royalty-Free Photos)?"

Rarely use RF photos_________________42%

Occasionally use RF photos____________44%

Never use RF photos__________________11%

Not familiar with what RF photos are____3%

Q:  "If you sometimes use Royalty-Free photos, what percent of your research efforts result in a Royalty-Free photo being licensed as opposed to an "RM" (Rights Managed) photo?"

% of Photobuyer
Respondents Using
Royalty-Free__________Percentage of RF Use
6%___________________0%
51%*_________________1% to 10%
27____________________10% to 25%
8%___________________25% to 50%
4%___________________50% to 75%
4%**_________________75% to 100%

*Respondents that occasionally use Royalty-Free, use it only 1%-10% of the time.

**Only 4% of the respondents use Royalty-Free most of the time.

Story contributed by Rohn Engh, Director, Photosource International