An image you found online is almost always someone’s property. The license decides exactly what you may do with it, and the details matter for business use.
This guide is general information for creators and businesses in the U.S., not legal advice. Copyright, licensing and drone rules depend on the facts and change over time; check the Copyright Office, the FAA or a lawyer for your situation.
Quick notes
- Copyright applies automatically, so an image without a copyright notice isn’t free to use.
- Royalty-free means you pay once and use it within the license terms, not that it costs nothing.
- Editorial-use-only images can’t be used to promote a product, service or business.
- Creative Commons licenses allow free use with conditions; CC0 places a work as close to the public domain as possible.
Under U.S. law, a photo is protected by copyright the moment it’s taken. No notice, registration or watermark is required. So the question for any image you didn’t make isn’t whether it’s protected, but what its license lets you do.
The common license types
| License | What it means | Typical limits |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty-free | Pay once, use many times within the license | Limits on print runs, merchandise, sensitive uses; “extended” licenses cost more |
| Rights-managed | Licensed for a specific use, size, time and territory | Using it beyond those terms needs a new license |
| Editorial use only | For news, commentary and education | No advertising, product promotion or business marketing |
| Creative Commons | Free use under the stated conditions | Conditions vary by license; see below |
| Public domain | No copyright restrictions | Other rights, like publicity or trademarks, can still apply |
Editorial-only images often show people, brands or private property without releases. That’s why they can’t be used commercially; see model and property releases.
The Creative Commons family
Creative Commons offers six licenses, all requiring attribution (BY), plus the CC0 public domain dedication:
| License | You may | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| CC BY | Use, adapt, use commercially | Credit the creator |
| CC BY-SA | Same | Share adaptations under the same license |
| CC BY-ND | Use commercially, no adaptations | Credit; no changes |
| CC BY-NC | Use and adapt, noncommercial only | Credit |
| CC BY-NC-SA | Same | Noncommercial; share alike |
| CC BY-NC-ND | Share only | Noncommercial; no changes |
| CC0 | Anything | None required, though credit is appreciated |
A good credit includes the title, the author, the source and the license, often remembered as TASL.
Careful: Licenses can be revoked or misrepresented by whoever uploaded an image, and uploaders sometimes post work that isn’t theirs. Download images from reputable sources, keep a copy of the license page, and be cautious with “free” image sites that don’t verify uploaders.
Keep records
For every licensed image, save the license, the download date, the source URL and any invoice. If a claim arrives years later, that file is your defense.
AI-generated images raise their own questions; see AI images and copyright. And if you find your own photos used without a license, see DMCA takedowns for stolen photos.
FAQs
If I credit the photographer, can I use their image?
No. Credit is a condition of some licenses, not a substitute for one. Without a license or permission, attribution doesn’t make use legal.
Are U.S. government photos free to use?
Works created by federal government employees as part of their jobs generally aren’t protected by copyright in the U.S. But some government sites host images from contractors or others, and recognizable people or trademarks may need separate permission.
What does NC mean in a Creative Commons license?
NonCommercial: you can’t use the work primarily for commercial advantage or monetary compensation. Most business marketing uses fall outside it.