Royalty Free Agreements
Some people think Royalty Free stock photos are free photos. This is not true. The term Royalty Free means that the buyer can use the photo multiple times on multiple projects with no restrictions, and without having to pay further royalties multiple use. Royal free photos can be used in a project, campaign, or on multiple print materials. In simple terms any thing you need them for.
Royalty Free also allows the buyer to extend use to employees of the company that purchased the image or images.
The downside to Royalty Free images is that they cannot be purchased on an exclusive basis so other stock photography purchasers may end up using the image you purchased for their campaign as well. Royalty Free is a non exclusive copyright license.
Rights Managed Agreements
Rights Managed is a onetime charge for the use of a photo, one time, and can be purchased as an exclusive or non-exclusive photo. If the user wants to use the image for additional projects, the image needs to be re-licensed again and outline the new use for the image. The Rights Managed agreement allows multiple copies of the image under one project, but new uses need to be renegotiated.
What makes a Rights Managed licensing agreement attractive is the option for exclusive or non-exclusive use. This is an additional copyright license that needs to be negotiated.