[Chris Zabriskie] Some paid license agreements, require an ongoing royalty payment

or licensing fee.

So Nintendo may not be manufacturing all those backpacks,

but I can guarantee they're making a few bucks every time somebody buys one.

That's a royalty payment, this continual payment based on sales or usage

of the thing being licensed.

But there are also royalty-free licenses

ones that don't require those continued payments.

Many stock photography websites, for example,

issue royalty-free licenses.

You pay for a photograph once,

and then you can use it on your website without having to pay them everytime someone sees it.

Getty images is one of the largest stock photography services,

and they also specialize in video and music.

Much of their catelogue is available royalty-free.

So remember that's not free, they will charge you for the license.

But you won't have to come back and relisence it year after year.

Other stock photo sites, like Stock Exchange, or even Mocrosoft's own stock photo database,

have many images available for free.

You don't have to pay to use them.

But each image still comes with it's own license.

It'll be royalty free, but there may still be some restrictions on how you can use it.

Some royalty-free licenses require the project that you're using it for,

to be non-commercial in nature.

They don't want you to be making any money off of it.

Others require the photographer to be credited.

It's still your job to abide by the terms in these licenses

even if you don't read them.

All of this applies to tons of other royalty-free products too,

not just photos.

Remember, read the license agreement—

always, even if it's free.

Read the agreement and understand exactly what you're agreeing to.