Stock media can greatly enhance your production and save you time and expense, but finding the right media for your production requires knowing where to look, and understanding the different types of licensing agreements per stock site. Watch the credit roll at the end of any feature film or documentary and note how many stock sites are credited. AP Archive, AP Images, Getty Images, iStock, and Shutterstock are just a few of the stock media sites widely used and available on the web.

AP Archive, AP Images, and Getty Images are three of the world’s largest repositories of historical and contemporary photos and footage, offering clients instant access to editorial media of breaking news, celebrity portraits by renowned photographers, and historical images and video across all genres.

iStock (by Getty Images) and Shutterstock are online, royalty free libraries offering millions of photos, vectors, videos, and music tracks to help enhance any production. Both of these sites offer pay-as-you-go and bulk pricing to fit your specific needs and production budget.

All stock media sites provide different types of license agreements, depending on the item you are requesting and your intended purpose of that item. The most common licenses are royalty free, rights managed, and editorial use.

• A royalty free license allows you to purchase an item once and use it multiple times in your production(s).
• A rights managed license is a pay-per-use license that requires you to pay for each and every use of rights managed stock media.
• Media for editorial use is the non-commercial use of content for stories or articles of public interest such as news features and documentaries.

Before negotiating a license agreement with a stock media site, know exactly how the item you are purchasing will be used. Common questions a licensing agent will ask you are:

• Intended use (advertising, marketing and promotional collateral, film, video and TV programming)
• Format (non-editorial programming, educational or documentary programming, trailer or theatrical promotion)
• Where the item will appear within the production (opening/closing sequence, body of content)
• Circulation (geographic territory, number of episodes)
• Method of distribution (broadcast TV, DVD, web or app, on demand, IPTV)
• Start date and length of contract

The licensing fee will be calculated based on your responses to these questions.

Stock media can add visually compelling content to your productions and streamline your video development processes. Check out different stock sites and explore the millions of images, videos, 3D charts, infographic templates, music and sound effects that can help accentuate and accelerate your next production.

Written by Kate Lee, Senior Media Producer