Why? Think of it this way: Embarrassing double usage on, say, competing brochures is bad enough, because it's quite possible the "end viewer" will at some point see both brochures. But the chances are that the viewer will see the brochures sequentially separated in time. However, if your competitor uses the same picture you do in ad that appears in the same magazine-- the end viewer will not only see both ads-- they will see them at virtually the exact same time.

Consequently, whether you are doing a consumer magazine ad, a business-to-business trade ad, or a newspaper ad, always remember that royalty-free's lack of rights-control means there is no way you can prevent-- or even have prior knowledge of-- an extremely painful dual (or even triple) usage of the same image, at the same time, in the same venue.

Yikes! Doing an ad? Think rights-protected, traditional stock.

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