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Licensing explained
© blickwinkel / Alamy
When you buy an image from Alamy, you purchase the right to use that image in a particular way. This is called a licence and there are two types:
- Traditional Licence (L)
also known as Rights Managed (RM) - Royalty-free (RF)
Traditional licensing (L/RM)
The image is licensed for a specific use, duration and territory. Pricing will depend on the options you select. For options not listed on our price calculator, or for multiple rights, please contact us and we will work out a price for you.
Non-exclusive
The buyer pays a licence fee each time they use the image. Other buyers can also purchase and use the image under the same licence.Exclusive
The buyer obtains exclusive use of an image under the terms of the licence. Exclusivity is generally by industry or territory and will restrict other buyers from using the image in a similar way. Pricing for this type of licence depends on the terms requested, but it is usually more expensive. Not all images are available for an exclusive license.
To establish whether an image is eligible for exclusive use and how much it will cost, you will need to contact our sales team.
For more information on our terms and conditions for traditional licensed images please go to:
Royalty-free Licensing (RF)
This is a simple form of licence with a one-off fee where the price is determined by file size. The costs of our RF images vary as pricing is set by our contributors. Once bought, the image can be used by the purchaser indefinitely and in perpetuity.
For more information on our terms and conditions for royalty-free images please go to:
Please note that not all of our images are model or property released. It is your responsibility to check whether a model/property release exists and whether your usage requires a release. Please see releases explained for more information.