What You Need to Know About Commercial Use: The Comprehensive Guide for Marketers
As a marketer in today‘s digital age, you likely wear many hats — content creator, designer, videographer, and more. With all the mediums and channels in your toolkit, it‘s easier than ever to quickly produce captivating campaigns and assets to reach your audience.
But there‘s one critical consideration that often gets overlooked amidst the hustle: commercial use. Are you properly licensed to leverage all those nifty tools and materials for business purposes?
A staggering 85% of companies admit to deploying marketing assets without full licensing compliance, according to a survey by Copyright Clearance Center. And those missteps come with a hefty price tag — Getty Images alone has sued businesses for over $21 million for improper commercial use of its photos.
As a marketer, it‘s essential to understand commercial use so you can keep your efforts above board and avoid any legal headaches down the line. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover:
- What constitutes commercial use (and what doesn‘t)
- Where commercial use applies across marketing functions
- How to obtain proper licensing for tools and assets
- Tips for managing commercial use compliance at scale
- Real-world examples and insights from industry experts
By the end, you‘ll be equipped to confidently navigate commercial use requirements and create winning campaigns that drive results and respect intellectual property. Let‘s get started.
Defining Commercial Use: A Simple Litmus Test
Here‘s the most basic definition: commercial use is any utilization of a product or service for business or revenue-generating activity. If you‘re deploying something to help your company make money in any way, that‘s commercial use.
The opposite is non-commercial (or personal) use — leveraging tools or materials for your own purposes, without any profit-seeking or financial transactions involved.
One way to determine commercial vs. non-commercial is what I call the "business card test." If the activity or end product would make sense to put on your business card or company website, it‘s commercial use. If it‘s something you‘d make in your free time to use in your personal life, it‘s likely non-commercial use.
For instance, designing your firm‘s logo? Commercial. Sketching a logo concept for your friend‘s garage band? Non-commercial. Shooting a promotional video for your startup? Commercial. Filming your baby‘s first steps for the family archives? Non-commercial.
As a marketer, virtually everything you produce for your job will be considered commercial use, because driving revenue is the ultimate goal. So it‘s crucial to have the right permissions and licenses in place.
The Wide World of Commercial Use in Marketing
Now, let‘s explore some of the most common areas where commercial use comes into play for marketing departments:
Content & Copywriting
- Blog posts and articles
- Website and landing page copy
- Ebooks, whitepapers, and guides
- Email and newsletter content
- Social media posts and captions
- Press releases and media pitches
- Ad and promotional copywriting
- Video and podcast scripts
Design & Branding
- Logo design and branding guides
- Website and app UI/UX
- Infographics and data visualizations
- Merchandise and swag design
- Presentation and pitch decks
- Brochures and print collateral
- Trade show booth displays
- Office and retail signage
Multimedia Production
- Product and promotional photography
- Marketing and ad campaign videos
- Animated explainers and demos
- Webinar and event recordings
- Podcast and audio production
- AR/VR and immersive experiences
As you can see, pretty much any creative asset you produce as a marketer will require commercial use rights. Whether it‘s a snappy slogan, an eye-catching infographic, or a viral video, if you‘re using it to promote your business, it needs to be properly licensed.
The stakes are high, too. Just ask the marketing agency that was ordered to pay over $120,000 for commercially using a copyrighted photo they found online in one of their client campaigns. That‘s a nightmare scenario no one wants to face.
Securing Commercial Use Permissions
Now for the million-dollar question: how do you actually go about getting approval for commercial use of all the tools and resources in your marketing arsenal?
The first step is carefully reviewing the terms of service or licensing agreement for any product you use. Most will have explicit language around what sort of commercial uses are covered (if any).
For example, here‘s a snapshot of the permissions for a few popular marketing and design tools:
| Tool | Free Plan | Paid Plan | Commercial Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canva | ✓ | ✓ | Allowed on paid plans with some limitations |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | X | ✓ | Allowed with active paid subscription |
| Unsplash | ✓ | N/A | Allowed with attribution |
| Hootsuite | ✓ | ✓ | Allowed on paid plans |
| Wordpress | ✓ | ✓ | Allowed, but some themes & plugins may have restrictions |
As you can see, the details and nuances vary quite a bit between tools. But in general, most SaaS products will offer a free version for non-commercial use, and then require you to upgrade to a paid tier to unlock commercial use rights.
For one-off assets like stock photos, graphics, fonts, or templates, there are often different licensing levels based on the scope of commercial use — e.g. a standard license for limited distribution, or an extended license for larger-scale commercial projects. Always double-check the fine print before hitting "purchase."
If it‘s unclear exactly what‘s allowed, reach out to the company‘s customer support for clarification before moving forward with any commercial campaigns. And if you‘re working with a particular artist or creator‘s original work, it may require a custom contract explicitly granting commercial rights.
When in doubt, the safe thing is to assume you don‘t have commercial use by default. Talk with your company‘s legal counsel if you have any concerns — it‘s always better to ask permission than seek forgiveness when it comes to using others‘ intellectual property for business gain.
Managing Commercial Compliance Company-Wide
For solopreneurs and small teams, keeping tabs on commercial use is relatively straightforward. But for larger marketing departments and organizations, it takes some focused effort and coordination to make sure your whole operation is buttoned up.
A few best practices to consider:
- Work with your legal team to develop an official policy outlining when and how to obtain commercial licensing, and any standards or restrictions to follow. Make it accessible to all.
- Require any employee who will be producing or deploying marketing assets to get trained on your commercial use protocols.
- Maintain a central log or database of all commercial use licenses and permissions, including details on usage terms, expiration dates, and named users.
- Implement a procurement process for requesting and approving any new tools or resources that will be used commercially.
- Have a periodic audit or self-check process where employees confirm they have active licenses in place for their common tools and campaigns.
- Set aside a dedicated budget for licensing fees, and build that into project proposals and quotes.
According to a report by the Software & Information Industry Association, only 35% of companies have a formal policy in place around commercial licensing and usage — which leaves a lot of orgs exposed to potential liability.
So if you really want to level up your commercial use compliance, consider appointing a dedicated manager or forming a cross-functional taskforce to own and enforce those processes. Bake it into your onboarding and ongoing education for the whole marketing org.
The key is to be proactive, not reactive. Don‘t wait for a cease and desist letter to start taking commercial use seriously. Build the right habits and practices up front, so you can execute your marketing strategies at full speed without worrying about licensing pitfalls.
Lessons from the Commercial Use Frontlines
To further illuminate the importance of commercial use considerations for marketers, I reached out to a few experts for their take. Here are some of their top insights:
"It‘s frankly astounding how many marketers are out there grabbing random photos or graphics from the web and just assuming they can use them for commercial purposes. That‘s a recipe for disaster. You wouldn‘t steal images for your personal projects — don‘t do it for business either."
— Abbey Woodcock, Founder, Freelance Co-op
"One of the hardest parts of navigating commercial use is that every single tool and platform has their own unique flavor of licensing. There‘s no universally consistent language or structure. So you really have to put in the work to comb through those agreements and flag any restrictions or gray areas to your team."
— Darryl Stevens, Director of Creative Operations, Trendline Interactive
"At our agency, we have a rule that not a single pixel can go out the door for a client project without an airtight paper trail confirming we have all the necessary rights and permissions. It takes a lot of organization and diligence, but it‘s so worth the peace of mind to know we‘re covered."
— Kayla Carmicheal, VP of Client Services, Wistia
The throughline? Taking a deliberate, conscientious approach to understanding and complying with commercial use requirements is a core competency for the modern marketer and agency.
Embrace a Commercial Use Mindset
We‘ve covered a lot of ground in this deep dive on commercial use. But all the tips and tactics boil down to a simple mandate: make commercial licensing an always-on part of your marketing mindset.
As you‘re planning and executing campaigns, get in the habit of asking:
- What tools and assets are we deploying for this?
- Do we have explicit permission to use them commercially?
- If not, what‘s our action plan for securing the right approvals?
Anytime you‘re creating something that will help you make money — directly or indirectly — it needs to be properly licensed from a commercial use standpoint. No exceptions. Bake that basic check into your process at every stage of your marketing workflow.
Yes, it might require some extra legwork and investment to get all your commercial ducks in a row. But it‘s a small price to pay compared to the financial and reputational damage of getting slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Plus, being a responsible player in the marketing ecosystem is just good business. When you honor creators‘ rights and follow licensing protocols, you contribute to an environment where innovation and artistry can flourish sustainably.
At the end of the day, commercial use compliance isn‘t just a box to check — it‘s a commitment to marketing with integrity. And that‘s an asset that will pay dividends for your brand long-term.
Looking for more guidance on how to keep your marketing efforts above board? Check out our complete guides to copyright law for marketers, proper creative attribution, and staying on the right side of IP legislation.
