I am on shutterstock, if you want to have a look-see. Link to my portfolio in my signature. Click on the SS icon (the red square).

And be very careful with the free images on the web. Some images may not be free if they are in business. It is understood as a business, a website with advertising, for example.

�.

"And by all means, links to an artists portfolio or website as a payment would be attractive."
Best case scenario, Pixxionary will be seen by many eyes in the world (I like to dream big ;-)) so I think it's useful for photographers to have their link on the image page. But is this amongst photographers generally seen as an attractive option? ...

from time immemorial (ie, 1995) offers of massive exposure in return for free images just leaves an unpaid photographer exposed to the elements.   links dont make sales, and these days most independent sites can't compete with google searches that direct traffic to the agencies

Quote from: Not Today on June 12, 2019, 15:45

SS would actually be losing money on that deal since they'd have to pay between 187.50$ (0.25$ per image) and 292.50$ (0.39$ per image) to contributors for each of these 750 images.

I don't believe you mean "for each of those 750 images." Don't you mean "for each of those sets of 750 images"?

Or am I missing something???

Yes sorry I meant each of these sets, for this project

Just to clarify the licensing restrictions agencies impose (and it varies by agency so you need to read carefully), many - but not Shutterstock any more, unless I missed something - require that you use an image during the term of your subscription in order to have perpetual rights to use it. Some used to specifically prohibit stockpiling - which is what people are suggesting you should do. Stockpiling is downloading images you don't use right away to save them for later. Here's what earlier Shutterstock licenses used to contain in the restrictions section:

"Stockpile or otherwise store downloaded Images that are not used within twelve (12) months of the date on which you first downloaded such Image (the �Usage Period�). If you fail to use an Image within the Usage Period, you lose all rights to use that Image. Upon the expiration of the Usage Period, you will destroy all copies of Images in your possession that were not used during the Usage Period except for those copies you retain in the normal course of your record keeping."

The other thing to note is that you'd have to take 8 months to download 6k images with a 750-per-month subscription - you can't pay extra to download more images right away (at subscription prices)

As noted somewhere above, Shutterstock would be losing money paying 38 cents a download (I know not everyone makes that, but the odds are that the images downloaded will be from portfolios that sell well and are thus at the higher royalty rate). I'm really surprised that they removed the stockpiling exclusion from the subscription license terms

SS would actually be losing money on that deal since they'd have to pay between 187.50$ (0.25$ per image) and 292.50$ (0.39$ per image) to contributors for each of these 750 images.

Bummer. 

as an example of the poor returns from links...

while not directly applicable, here are recent stats from my ebay acct - items are shown to people based on search terms, thus already more likely to click


in last month

about 50 items promoted
413,801 impressions
442 clicks
7 sales

the good part is you only pay a small fee when an item is sold

"Stockpile or otherwise store downloaded Images that are not used within twelve (12) months of the date on which you first downloaded such Image (the �Usage Period�). If you fail to use an Image within the Usage Period, you lose all rights to use that Image. Upon the expiration of the Usage Period, you will destroy all copies of Images in your possession that were not used during the Usage Period except for those copies you retain in the normal course of your record keeping."

The thing I'm curious about is: how would they know you are stockpiling? I mean, I don't believe you need to share with SS where, how or when you're going to use the images (not sure though).

Quote from: marthamarks on June 12, 2019, 16:09

Quote from: gavin on June 12, 2019, 16:01

Quote from: marthamarks on June 12, 2019, 15:49

Quote from: mindstorm on June 12, 2019, 15:40

This is why I have not piped in before now. You can get them SO CHEAP from the agencies that I figured you were trying to game the system and really get from us free.

Same here.

Gavin, maybe this new-to-you information will help you understand why so many folks here appear (and are!) a bit hostile to the "great new ideas" that both stock agencies and individuals routinely offer us. Once burned, twice or thrice wary.

Yes, I do understand it better now. But really, I was genuinely trying to find a structure that everyone would feel comfortable with.

I think we all understand that now and wish you well, especially since you've been a patient and respectful correspondent throughout this thread.

I specialize in North American nature: birds, other critters, scenics, etc. Not sure if you're interested in those subjects but if so, I'd have no fundamental problem providing images to you for a comparable fee to what I'd get from the stock sites.

And since my portfolio is well organized and not terribly huge, it would not take me terribly long to dig out any specific image that you might want.

I feel bad for saying this but SS now looks like a no brainer, but you already figured that And actually your material sounds very interesting, so I may take you up on your offer.

I'm thinking that what I can do to somehow give back to the community is to make sure that the images I'm going to use have a link back to the photographer's website or portfolio. Idea?

Thank you for your kind words.

A backlink would be awesome, its nice of you to think about it.

http://www.shutterstock.com/g/thp?rid=580903 - my portfolio on Shutterstock if you're interested, about 6,000 images & videos online.

All the best with the project.

Hi people,

as promised, I have worked on making sure the photographers get a link to their portfolio (for now only ShutterStock). It's really basic and it's probably going to change a bit, but basically this is the idea:

The 'endpoint' for a term:
https://pixxionary.com/term/35347/teacher

An overview of all the photographers of whom the stock images have been used:
https://pixxionary.com/contributors

If you can't see either of these you probably need to switch to 'English' on top of the page. Also note that I have only just listed a few names; this is going to change of course. It's a lot of (extra) work but I would like to make sure in the end everybody is listed properly.

As I said in previous posts I would like to give back to the community and this is how I can somehow contribute. I think you guys need more recognition for the work that you do, and that you are way too undervalued.

I'll be back ;-)

That's a very nice way to do it. I'm impressed with your sincerity and willingness to do the right thing.

Good luck with pixxionary!

Explain more about payment. You said �- payment follows�

Does payment follow immediately after download, or months later? Payment should actually happen when the image is downloaded, like on the agencies.

Completely agree. This is a great concept, hope there's a way to make it work!