rights managed microstock

yuliang11

« on: January 28, 2011, 07:19 »

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Hi,

What do you guys think of rights managed images at microstock cost ?


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cclapper

Premium Member

« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2011, 07:20 »

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yuliang11

« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2011, 07:21 »

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Quote from: cclapper on January 28, 2011, 07:20

and why not? it's for better photographer's protection


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borg

« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2011, 07:29 »

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No and no! Grin


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yuliang11

« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2011, 07:30 »

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Quote from: borg on January 28, 2011, 07:29

No and no! Grin

duh..


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BaldricksTrousers

« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2011, 07:36 »

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As far as I know, all the microstock images are rights managed. Otherwise, why do we get extended licenses?


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sharpshot

« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2011, 07:41 »

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I don't want to see rights managed microstock. I think it hasn't happened because there's more admin expenses for the sites and it really wouldn't work. I like getting higher prices for my rights managed portfolio with alamy.


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yuliang11

« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2011, 07:49 »

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Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on January 28, 2011, 07:36

As far as I know, all the microstock images are rights managed. Otherwise, why do we get extended licenses?

Royalty free - no limits of projects being used. you can basically recycle it for as much time as you can as long as it doesn't exceeds number of usage

Rights managed - you can use the image per project

correct me if i'm wrong anyone.

Quote from: sharpshot on January 28, 2011, 07:41

well it's at the agency side. i like alamy too. but it's very hard to sell there. at least for me.


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« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2011, 08:02 »

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I can't see any microstock site selling rights managed images anytime soon, at least not at microstock prices - too hard to administer and too confusing for the occassional buyer(not to mention contributor), another issue is all that what would happen is a lot of the people already submitting images to microstock would just choose the RM license for the same type of content they're selling as RF which would be a negative issue for the sites concerned.

Microstock (and most probably iStock first) may come up with their own alternative but it 'won't be rights managed as we know it Jim'.


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yuliang11

« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2011, 08:06 »

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Quote from: RT on January 28, 2011, 08:02

the people already submitting images to microstock would just choose the RM license for the same type of content they're selling as RF which would be a negative issue for the sites concerned.

Microstock (and most probably iStock first) may come up with their own alternative but it 'won't be rights managed as we know it Jim'.

Right, that's the same issue with people submitting same photos to micros & macros too


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« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2011, 08:26 »

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Quote from: yuliang11 on January 28, 2011, 08:06

Right, that's the same issue with people submitting same photos to micros & macros too

No it isn't, well not as long as they keep the same license type and abide with the sites policies.


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jbarber873

« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2011, 08:30 »

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One of the reasons royalty free has taken off in the last 10 years has been the problem of dealing with the restrictions in a rights managed license. I have a lot of clients who are designers. In the past, if a designer does a job on behalf of a corporate client, they would purchase a RM license for that project, say an annual report. The problem comes in when the client takes ownership of the project, and continues to use it after the 1 year usage rights. Getty has been especially aggressive in tracking usages that are over the time limit , for instance if that annual report gets archived on the website. Unfortunately, the bill goes to the designer in many cases, and many designers lose the account to new competition without having any ready method to bill these usages to the client. Many of my clients have decided that going forward, they would only buy RF- whether it be microstock or RF through the big RM agencies. It's hard to get a corporate client to take responsibility for these costs otherwise. It used to be that a client wanted RM because they didn't want the same photo to show up in a competitors piece, but that has long since ceased to be a concern. Price trumps ownership every time. That's also why they don't hire photographers as much to shoot something that can be bought as stock. The microstock and RF revolution created such a cost disparity that once budgets get set with the new model, they will never go back to the old levels. RM is the past, not the future. Unless there is a very good premium attached to a RM sale, it doesn't make sense for the contributor to lock a file up for one sale, but the clients aren't interested in paying that premium, and taking the responsibility for renewing the license in the future. There are always those clients who will pay that price, of course, but the numbers are going down, not up.


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PaulieWalnuts

« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2011, 08:36 »

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Quote from: yuliang11 on January 28, 2011, 07:19

Hi,
What do you guys think of rights managed images at microstock cost ?

Yes, I like the idea of Rights Managed but not in its current form for microstock.

RM is too complex for average buyers and the cost would need to be increased a lot to make up for the lower sales volume.

Plus, the images would need to be very unique otherwise why would anyone buy a $250 handshake over a $5 one.

I think micro needs a simplified usage based license that's based on time or a combo of time and size. This unlimited usage license is probably one reason so many people are saying their sales have plateaued. Designers build up a catalog of stock images and use the same ones over and over again with clients. This is especially true with subscription sites where it's basically encouraging buyers to hoard and stockpile images. The same telephone shot is probably on the Contact Us page of all 100 of a designer's client's websites. If it was usage based we would get compensated for all 100 images instead of 1. Plus, the move from paper to digital seems to be shifting the need to smaller images which means the size-based RF licensing may further contribute to the downward slide.

Not sure what the answer is but we need a new license model. And I don't think micro RF is sustainable Shocked

for contributors with even low production costs over the long haul.


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yuliang11

« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2011, 08:53 »

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i'm thinking of some targeting asian local niches where people can find affordable RM images per usage without time limits. there are just too much corporate cacuasians handshake images in RF.


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BaldricksTrousers

« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2011, 09:01 »

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Quote from: yuliang11 on January 28, 2011, 07:49

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on January 28, 2011, 07:36

As far as I know, all the microstock images are rights managed. Otherwise, why do we get extended licenses?

"as long as it doesn't exceed" limits on usage means that the rights are being managed to some degree.

RM images can also be used in every way that doesn't exceed the limits on usage, and not necessarily just for a single project. It all depends on the contract, as usual.

But I'm just being awkward.

The micros won't do highly restrictive licenses with time limits adjusted to the clients needs and scrutiny of the proposed usage to determine legality because they couldn't sell them for micro prices, which would need to be below the RF micro price.


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sjlocke

« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2011, 09:08 »

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Quote from: RT on January 28, 2011, 08:02

Exactly. The overhead in making sure buyers are using or stopping the use per an RM type license would be prohibitive.


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BaldricksTrousers

« Reply #16 on: January 28, 2011, 09:23 »

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Quote from: sjlocke on January 28, 2011, 09:08

Quote from: RT on January 28, 2011, 08:02

Exactly. The overhead in making sure buyers are using or stopping the use per an RM type license would be prohibitive.

I'm not sure they do scrutinise it to that degree, it would cause huge PR problems to want to go snooping around your customer's client's printing press. But they do engage in individual negotiation of details and, presumably, check that the required license conforms to legal usage. That requires staff interaction on a sale-by-sale basis, which costs money.

Add to that the requirement for RF imagery to sell at a lower price point than RM imagery (unless there are special exclusive usage rights, in which case it is the other way round) and it is patently impossible to do this on a micro basis.

I suppose you could automated the process by offering a range of specified usages, one country, one medium etc. at wildly different price-points but then you would probably run into widespread problems with people paying for the cheapest license and using the images as if they are RF.

We hardly need to undercut the pricing on the micros by offering cheaper, restricted use licenses, anyway.


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gostwyck

« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2011, 09:42 »

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Quote from: jbarber873 on January 28, 2011, 08:30

... (snip) ... RM is the past, not the future.

Exactly. Images are now abundant in supply and their value (unless the image is truly exceptional) does not justify the additional administration for RM.


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ShadySue

Premium Member

« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2011, 10:52 »

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Quote from: yuliang11 on January 28, 2011, 07:19

Hi,
What do you guys think of rights managed images at microstock cost ?

The micros won't do it because the expense involved in administration would be very high. iStock can't even stay sustainable with the royalties they were paying us last year.
On the other hand, Alamy's prices are falling to such an extent that a customer with a bulk discount deal can get an RM image for less than they could get an iStock EL (unless they had a big bulk discount deal at iStock).


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Zeus

« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2011, 10:56 »

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Micro RM is a oxymoron.


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tundraphoto

« Reply #20 on: January 28, 2011, 10:58 »

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Could you explain to me why I would want to sell and image for $10 and get a royalty of, say, $3, and then have the image removed from a site because it is RM? Talk about a losing business model..


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sjlocke

« Reply #21 on: January 28, 2011, 11:03 »

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Quote from: tundraphoto on January 28, 2011, 10:58

Could you explain to me why I would want to sell and image for $10 and get a royalty of, say, $3, and then have the image removed from a site because it is RM? Talk about a losing business model..

You're associating RM erroneously with an exclusivity license. That could be an option, but would obviously not be offered cheap.


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cclapper

Premium Member

« Reply #22 on: January 28, 2011, 11:22 »

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Quote from: Zeus on January 28, 2011, 10:56

Micro RM is a oxymoron.

Exactly.


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yuliang11

« Reply #23 on: January 28, 2011, 11:27 »

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Quote from: gostwyck on January 28, 2011, 09:42

Quote from: jbarber873 on January 28, 2011, 08:30

... (snip) ... RM is the past, not the future.

Exactly. Images are now abundant in supply and their value (unless the image is truly exceptional) does not justify the additional administration for RM.

yes, unless it's a certain niche market in asia. and buyers just needs to tie the image to a specific usage when downloading.