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Royalty free images - should I keep the receipts?

by JackCronfield
15 replies
Hi Warriors,
I am buying my photos from various stock photo websites. An image can be placed in more than one website. How can I prove that I paid for those images ?

Am I expected to keep those receipts for ever ?

I heard some horrible stories about extortion letters sent by those websites, but it's practically impossible to keep track of all the images that you bought. Is it practical to keep a receipt for a tiny image you bought a few years ago ?

Another question: how can they tell if the picture on a website has been bought or "duplicated" from another website ?

I am not sure how all this system works and I want to keep myself covered but it's practically impossible to keeps track of everything that I bought.

Any advice ? What are you doing ?
#free #images #receipts #royalty
  • Profile picture of the author KenJ
    At the risk of sounding like a goody goody......

    You should keep all your receipts and very close purchase and sales records. So when your accountant sorts out your annual tax return he can use them as legitimate deductions from your gross profit.

    Your point about people chasing you to pay for the rights to images is harder to answer. just keep records and only use well known sources.

    My best supply of free images is my camera.

    KenJ
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  • Profile picture of the author vtotheyouknow
    Hey Jack,

    Most sites like iStockPhoto email you a receipt when you make a purchase. So when tax day comes around and you're paying the mothercopulators at the IRS (or whatever the Kiwi equivalent is), you can just go to your mail account and search for the website and you'll have your stuff in order. :-) Same goes for producing proof of your license for an image you're using.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Barber
      I try and buy through paypal as you then have a reason record of payments all in one place. I also have a simple spreadsheet that has a thum nail of the photo, receipt and sites I have used on.

      Hard work but part of business.
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      • Profile picture of the author agmccall
        I use paypal for all my purchases, and if they do not take paypal I use my paypal debit card. all my purchases are in paypal all the time

        al
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  • Profile picture of the author datingworld
    Buy from one provider and keep track of all the records. I think it will be very easy to manage all your purchases.
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  • Profile picture of the author GobBluthJD
    It never hurts to keep your receipts in this business...
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Dominguez
    You could keep a separate folder with all your image receipts, or use a accordion folder to keep track of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    As a business, we keep all of our receipts, and as most experienced business owners who use images in their marketing will tell you, you should keep all of your receipts and any related "license" to use that image, should it ever come down to having to prove that you didn't just copy and use the image from someones site. (Funny, but I saw a marketer who's name I won't mention use an image with watermarks still visibly showing. How cheap is that? But I digress... some of these images are listed on more than one site for purchase, so it's good to be able to show where you obtained the license from. Also if you ever decide to claim those purchases as expenses on your taxes, you are then legally obligated to be able to present those receipts.
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  • Profile picture of the author MontrealSEO
    i usually just pay via credit card, via paypal. that's enough receipt in my books, plus if you have an account with the stock image company, they should have your history.

    you're also sent an email as a receipt, just don't purge it
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    • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
      Originally Posted by MontrealSEO View Post

      i usually just pay via credit card, via paypal. that's enough receipt in my books, plus if you have an account with the stock image company, they should have your history. you're also sent an email as a receipt, just don't purge it
      From experience I can say that if you print out your receipts, you will have something to show if/when your hard drive crashes and/or for whatever reason you are unable to ever again retrieve the receipts. Also, the stock image company that you might rely on to have a history of your purchases on file, can very well for whatever reason stop operating.
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      Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
      "I LOVE The Song! The Vibe Is Positive And Firm!" - Kymani Marley. (Son of Bob Marley).
      "Very High Quality!" Jeremy Harding - Manager / Producer. Sean Paul.
      "They Are FANTASTIC!" - Willie Crawford.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sam Woods
    It isn't too hard to search through your CC details to see whats there, sure- try to keep all receipts but if you loose one it's not the end of the world.
    I keep mine for 3-4 years then chuck them (shred obviously).

    Sam
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    • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
      Originally Posted by Sam Woods View Post

      I keep mine for 3-4 years then chuck them (shred obviously).
      For the purposes of the topic of purchasing royalty free images and whether the receipt should be kept, as long as the receipt and actual "license" are separate, then yes, chuck your receipts when you no longer need them as proof of expense etc.
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      Arnold Stolting - Stolting Media Group
      "I LOVE The Song! The Vibe Is Positive And Firm!" - Kymani Marley. (Son of Bob Marley).
      "Very High Quality!" Jeremy Harding - Manager / Producer. Sean Paul.
      "They Are FANTASTIC!" - Willie Crawford.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luis Vaugier
    It's a good idea to keep the receipts always, besides, it isn't hard
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  • Profile picture of the author nidjo
    I would say yes, however most stock photo sites will keep records of your purchases so you can download the pictures any time you want. Recently, by mistake, I have deleted part of my files, luckily I download the pictures I have bought two years ago because iStockPhoto kept my info.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    Absolutely you should keep your receipts.

    If you obtain the image rights from a commendable service, in all probability your account will always retain the information.

    (I know for my sources, I have access to purchase records)..

    So just ensure to maintain your account
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