If you are looking for copyright protection for the images that you have bought from a stock photo agency, the protection has to be decided at the moment that you purchase the image.
All stock photos have Royalty free copyright protection
Many different licenses can be bought and the type of license you buy determines your rights and the rights of others to use the image. All stock photography has a basic Royalty free non exclusive agreement attached to their images. If you wish to increase that basic agreement and pay for more enhanced rights, then you need to purchase that at the time of download.
Exclusive rights to an image
To build a unique promotional design, purchasing the exclusive rights to an image is the best licensing option for your needs. When searching for stock photos, use the search filtering options and search only for rights managed or exclusive rights images. By using this advanced option, the only images that will appear in your keyword search will be images that hold these rights.
Third party developers who build your website
When you hire a third party to build your website or any creative project, check that the designer purchased the correct licenses, request the invoices for these licenses and keep them on file for your reference. Do not assume that a third party will buy the licenses that you have requested to protect the stock photos used on your materials. Rights managed and royalty free licenses are discussed in more depth in this article.
