Image License & Usage Rights

The license travels with the image, not with the website you found it on - the same photo can be free on one site and cost $500 on another, and the most common violation is running an editorial-use-only image in an ad. This skill decides whether a specific use is permitted, what the license obligates, and when a release is needed. It is the gate before anything commercial ships.

First principle: verify on the source page, never from memory. Licenses change and sites revise terms; open the image's actual license page on the provider before relying on any summary, including this one.

Operating procedure

Order matters: the use classification (Step 2) determines which license terms even apply, so classify before reading.

Step 1: Gather inputs

• The image: source URL, provider, and any license/asset ID.
• The intended use: where it will appear, for how long, and at what scale.
• Whether the image contains identifiable people, private property, artworks, logos, or distinctive buildings.
• Whether the image is AI-generated or from a provider's AI tool.

Step 2: Classify the use first