Royalty Free (hereafter, RF) means that after the initial permission is secured, usually through money, additional uses can be made without payment. RF is multiple use free of royalties.
Does royalty-free mean free to use?
Royalty-free is not free of charge – The image license has a price, that you must pay in order to use the copyrighted material. It is not a free-to-use license. Royalty-free is not free of terms or restrictions – The license terms are to be followed in order to make legal use of the stock images under this contract.
Are royalty-free images free?
Royalty-free images aren't necessarily free. In most cases, you'll have to pay a one-time fee to obtain the rights to use the image. Then you can use it as many times as you like. The free in royalty-free only means that you do not have to pay royalties to the owner of the image every time you use it.
What does not royalty-free mean?
When the music is NOT royalty-free, the customer has to pay additional licensing fees every time the music is used.