Copyright Secured Automatically upon Creation (This applies to images as well as the written word.)

The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

How Long Copyright Protection Endures
Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

http://www.copyright.gov/


Dreamstime Copyright Info
Royalty-Free License*

What Royalty-Free means is that you pay for the image only once and then you can use it as many times as you like, with just a few restrictions. In other words, there are no license fees except the initial fee and no other royalties to be paid except those included in the initial cost. Note that the maximum number of copies for printed materials is 500,000 copies.

The high-resolution images that you download under the regular Royalty Free (RF) license may be used to make fine art prints, on a web site, in a magazine, newspaper, book or booklet, flyer, or any other advertising and promotional material, in either printed or electronic media.

If you use the images for printed materials, the number of copies must not exceed 500,000. You may modify the images in any way required for reproduction, or include them in your own personal creations.

Buying the high-resolution image (purchasing the license) does not transfer the copyright. You may not claim that the image is your own and you may not sell, license for use, or in any way distribute the image for reuse.

http://www.dreamstime.com/terms

If a digital imaging artist incorporates an image into her own creation, she owns the copyright for the created piece, i.e. Digital Donna book covers and 3D graphics. However, Digital Donna allows the client a royalty-free license to use the cover design any way he/she chooses (provided it does not break any laws). Digital Donna reserves the right to use the client's cover image in her own advertising, i.e. on the Digital Donna web site, and in printed brochures, flyers, business cards, etc. If a client wishes to own the full copyright for his/her cover design, a reasonable fee will be required.


*Other stock image web sites that I may use have comparable Licenses.