MicrostockGroup

Hi all,
I few days ago, I sent the following question to fotolia :
I am asking this question not as a contributor, but as a (potential) buyer of illustrations.
As from 2012, I will become a fulltime photographer, and I will expand my business with local portraiture and product photo shoots.
I was thinking of offering green screen shots, put against a romantic or fantasy background (in photoshop). However, I am not an illustrator, so I would buy vectors/illustrations (fantasy landscapes, borders) to put my subjects in. This means that I would sell my photos, enhanced with Fotolia borders/illustrations to families for use as Christmas cards, Wedding invitations or just for fun. The illustration would not be sold seperately of course. Does the standard license allow this? Buying an extended license for such a limited use would make the end-product much too expensive, so if the standard license does not allow this, I can only try and make my own borders and fantasy landscapes.

And this is Fotolia's answer :
I'm afraid once the file is used in as end product that is for resale, eg greeting card, calender etc, the Extended Licence is required.

Now I can hardly believe that all (advertising) agencies pay EL's for every image they buy on behalf of their customer.  And isn't this the same?  I buy an image, put the photo of their child in it, and sell my work, to be used by the parents only, for private use like their christmas card, invitations etc.  This is very limited use, much more limited than the flyers, brochures ... of clients of an advertising agency.  Fotolia uses the word "greeting cards", but there's a big difference between selling greeting cards in a supermarket, then supplying 50 cards to a family, with their baby on it.

Am I wrong, and do I really need an EL ?  That would make my product unsaleable (too expensive) for family use.  I could of course ask the family to buy the illustration, but that makes things a bit too complicated.

Oh help, now I really feel stupid, cause I still don't get it.  You say both customers are end users, so aren't the ad agency and myself doing the same thing : buying an image to use it  in a lay-out for 1 particular customer/end user?

Thanks Sean, I think I'm going to knock on Fotolia's door again, using your term "custom work" - that might convince them.
I'm aiming at one particular portfolio of an illustrator who does fairytale background stuff - ideal for kids photos, and I haven't found him on other agencies, so keep your fingers crossed that Fotolia says "OK".

I wonder if I should open a separate buyer's account for situations like this.  Would that be wise or completely unneccessary?  It would certainly be easier to keep a clear overview on my sales figures ...

I'd say the Fotolia license doesn't even say that: http://us.fotolia.com/Info/Agreements/StandardLicense
"Fotolia hereby grants to the Non-Exclusive Downloading Member a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, non-transferable sublicense to use, reproduce or display the Work an unlimited number of times ... (and you) shall have the right to sell or distribute the Work solely as incorporated onto an item of merchandise or other work of authorship if the Work has been modified to the extent that it is no longer substantially similar to the original Work "

One license should be fine.