Can I reuse one licensed asset across several client projects?

Usually not on a standard licence, which typically ties the asset to a single end product. A second project generally needs a second licence. This matters most when you plan to standardise on one template across a series of client builds — price that in before committing to the approach.

What happens to the licence when I hand a site to a client?

It depends on whether the licence is transferable, and this catches agencies out repeatedly. A purchased per-item licence often transfers with the end product; a licence granted through your own subscription usually does not, because it was granted to you rather than to the site. Check before delivery, not after.

Stock licences explained — what you actually bought

Stock Licence

Also: asset licence, content license, media licence, usage rights

A stock licence is the contract that defines exactly what you may do with a bought asset — where it may appear, at what scale, for how long, and in whose product — and it, not the download, is the thing you actually purchased.

You bought permission, not a file

Downloading a template or a photograph transfers no ownership. The creator keeps the copyright; you receive a defined permission to use the work in defined ways. Everything that later goes wrong with bought assets traces back to treating the file as the purchase and the licence as paperwork.

Four questions decide almost every case. Scope: one end product, or many? Scale: is there a cap on print runs, impressions or users? Duration: perpetual, or only while a subscription runs? Transfer: can the licence follow the site when you hand it to a client? Marketplaces answer these very differently — a royalty-free purchase is usually perpetual and per-product, while a subscription typically licenses each use only while you keep paying.

Subscription libraries generally require each use to be registered to a specific project while the subscription is active. Do it at the moment of use. Trying to reconstruct which of 200 downloads went into which client site, in the week you plan to cancel, is a genuinely miserable afternoon — and an unregistered asset in a live product is an unlicensed one.

Key takeaways

→The licence is the purchase. The file is just the delivery mechanism, and the creator keeps the copyright throughout.
→Scope, scale, duration and transferability are the four questions that decide whether an asset is safe in a given project — check them before price.

FAQ

Can I reuse one licensed asset across several client projects?: Usually not on a standard licence, which typically ties the asset to a single end product. A second project generally needs a second licence. This matters most when you plan to standardise on one template across a series of client builds — price that in before committing to the approach.
What happens to the licence when I hand a site to a client?: It depends on whether the licence is transferable, and this catches agencies out repeatedly. A purchased per-item licence often transfers with the end product; a licence granted through your own subscription usually does not, because it was granted to you rather than to the site. Check before delivery, not after.