Sometimes. Most images, fonts and graphics on a business website are licensed rather than owned, and the type of licence decides whether you pay once, pay every year or pay nothing at all. A stock photo bought on a one-off licence or a free open licence font costs nothing more after launch, while a font subscription, a stock subscription or a premium theme licence can renew every year.
So yes, there can be ongoing copyright costs for images, fonts and graphics. The trick is knowing which model each asset uses before the site goes live, so a renewal never lands as a surprise.
The three licence models you will meet
Owned outright
Some assets are created for you and transferred to you: a custom logo, illustrations drawn for your brand, photos commissioned with full rights. Once ownership passes, there is nothing to renew. This is the cleanest model, and usually the most expensive up front.
Perpetual licences
You pay once and can keep using the asset within the licence terms. Individually purchased royalty-free stock photos and many web font licences work this way. Perpetual does not mean unlimited, though. Terms often cap the number of websites, the monthly pageviews, or uses such as putting the image in a logo or on products for resale.
Subscription licences
You pay for as long as you use the service. Some font services only serve their fonts while your plan is active, so if the subscription lapses, your site quietly falls back to a default font. Some stock libraries let you keep using what you downloaded while subscribed. Others tie ongoing use to an active plan. The licence terms tell you which, and they are worth five minutes of reading.
Images: where most of the risk sits
Royalty-free does not mean free. It means you pay a licence fee once and owe no further royalty each time the image is used. The fee still applies.
Free stock sites carry their own licences too. Most are generous, but some exclude commercial use, and photos showing people or private property may need releases the site does not guarantee.
The expensive mistake is an image pulled from a Google search. It is not licensed just because it is easy to download. Rights holders do send demands for payment when they find their work on business websites, and the amount asked usually dwarfs what a proper licence would have cost.
Fonts: free, one-off or by traffic
Many popular web fonts are released under open licences and cost nothing to use on a website. Commercial fonts are different. They are often priced by number of domains, by monthly pageviews or by annual subscription, and growing traffic can push you into a higher tier.
Ask your designer which fonts the design uses and how each one is licensed. If the answer involves a subscription, find out what it costs, who pays it and what happens if it stops.
Graphics, icons, themes and plugins
Icon sets and illustration packs follow the same pattern as photos: some are bought once, some come with a subscription. Premium WordPress themes and plugins usually sell an annual licence for updates and support. The site normally keeps working if that licence lapses, but it stops receiving updates, and out of date software is a security risk.
Whose name is the licence in?
This question matters as much as the price. If your agency buys an asset under its own account, that licence may not transfer to you when the project ends or when you change provider. Ask for licences to be bought in your business name, or for written confirmation that the licence covers your site after handover.
The simple fix is a licence register: a short list of every licensed asset, where it came from, the licence type, the renewal date and the account it sits in. It takes an hour to compile at launch and saves a lot of guesswork later.
Questions to ask before the build
- Which images, fonts, icons and plugins are licensed, and which are created for us?
- Are any licences subscriptions, and what do they cost each year?
- Whose account holds each licence, and does it carry over if we change provider?
- Do any licences cap pageviews, domains or types of use?
- Will we receive a licence register at handover?
Licensing is one part of the wider question of what you own once a site is finished. Our website design and development team can talk you through how assets are sourced on a build.
This is general information about common market practice, not legal advice. If you receive a copyright demand, get professional advice before you pay or respond.
Frequently asked questions
What does royalty-free mean?
It means you pay a licence fee once and owe no further royalties each time the image is used. It does not mean the image is free, and the licence terms still limit how you can use it.
Can I use images I found on Google on my website?
Not unless the image’s licence allows it, and most do not. Search results show images owned by other people. Use your own photos, licensed stock or images with a clear commercial licence instead.
What happens if a font subscription lapses?
Depending on the service, your site may stop loading the font and fall back to a default one, which changes how the whole site looks. Check the terms before launch so you can budget for renewal or choose a font with a one-off or open licence.
Do I need permission to use photos my customers send me?
Yes. A customer sending you a photo does not automatically give you the right to publish it. Ask for written permission, and take care with any images that show identifiable people.
Know your costs before launch
A site with every licence mapped out has no nasty renewal emails waiting in year two. If you are planning a build and want those questions answered early, book a discovery call with our team.
