Author Topic: Discussion for those submitting to Depositphotos (Read 38685 times)

eppic · « **on:** November 16, 2009, 15:27 »

So last week I decided to begin submitting images to depositstock on account of the .20/per accepted image for the first 500 images (100.00). So far I've submitted 123 images with one rejection, so I certainly cant complain about my acceptance ratio.
The upload servers seem pretty fast with no upload limits and the option for multiple uploads either via browser or FTP. All my images have IPTC data which was nicely placed in the title desc and keyword boxes. They have categories as well, but it's a simple drop-down menu like SS has, so final image submission is fairly quick.
I see I have 24.40 in m account balance from my accepted images, so I say so far so good with depositphotos. I think I'll be asking for a payout once I have 500 images accepted just to make sure they honour the whole thing.
One stipulation however in this program is that your images remain with them for a 6 month minimum. Fair enough sice they paid you to upload them.
Anybody else giving them a try?

LSD72 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 16, 2009, 15:39 »

I have not tried this but it sounds a little interesting. the 500 deal....if you dont have 500 images (thats me) you still get the money or does it have to be for 500?

Also, what is the payout on there and do they payout through Paypal?

melastmohican · « **Reply #2 on:** November 16, 2009, 15:57 »

I got less than 50 accepted and they keep adding money while I am increasing number of files. Interface is kind of cumbersome so it will take a few days to reach large number of submissions. I wish they got some sort of batch submission tool ;-)

elvinstar · « **Reply #3 on:** November 16, 2009, 18:11 »

I've uploaded well over the 500 and found their site to be one of the easier places to finish up at. I've requested payment and will let you know how long it takes to come through.

Quote

if you dont have 500 images (thats me) you still get the money

The way I understand it, they pay $0.20 for EACH image UP TO 500, so you should get something!

melastmohican · « **Reply #4 on:** November 16, 2009, 18:17 »

Minimum payout is $50 so I have to reach at least 250 images to get paid? Or maybe it's just excluded from general rules and you have to have 500 online?

eppic · « **Reply #5 on:** November 16, 2009, 18:29 »

I suppose if you don't have 250 accepted images, then you'd have to rely on sales to take you up to $50.00.
Here's the commission rates:
http://submit.depositphotos.com/pages/seller-price

One kind of weird bug I found when uploading a larger batch of files (like 40), that some seem to get lost in the process. They usually take a little while to show up in the "unfinished files" section, but it seems that for some reason not all of them find their way over, so I have to re-upload those that didn't make the first time around.

LSD72 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 16, 2009, 18:39 »

Thanks for the info everyone. I will look at them tonight sometime.

KB · « **Reply #7 on:** November 16, 2009, 18:48 »

No one else is worried about some of the things I mentioned in the other thread (poor English; copied iStock photographer's manual)?

I'm tempted to take advantage of their offer, but I'm worried whether or not they are actually a legitimate business.

eppic · « **Reply #8 on:** November 16, 2009, 19:20 »

Quote

No one else is worried about some of the things I mentioned in the other thread (poor English; copied iStock photographer's manual)?

The poor english is kind of strange I admit. I guess we'll wait and see if Elvinstar gets paid out in a timely manner; that will help tell the tale. This is also one of the reasons I wanted to begin this thread; if anyone's finding anything else kind of fishy, it's good to let others know.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2009, 20:32 »

This all sounds really familiar. Albumo?

sharpshot · « **Reply #10 on:** November 17, 2009, 03:24 »

This does feel similar to albumo and even though I made some money uploading there, I didn't enjoy the experience. I will be more cautious this time, it is tempting to try them but something is telling me not to. They need to fix the problems, like the poor English and convince me they are genuine.

PixelBitch · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2009, 20:54 »

They don't seem like the real thing to me...tried doing a simple keyword search for 'business' and also 'teen girl beach' which should bring up many images...but all I got was a 0 images screen.

Has anyone really checked them out...or are you all blinded by the quick 20 cents per upload...

PixelBitch · « **Reply #12 on:** November 17, 2009, 21:25 »

Has anyone checked out if they are the same outfit, or owned by the same people as depositfiles.com?

eppic · « **Reply #13 on:** November 17, 2009, 21:25 »

Quote

.tried doing a simple keyword search for 'business' and also 'teen girl beach' which should bring up many images...but all I got was a 0 images screen.

That is a bit odd considering that there's a few thousand images in the "business and finance" category. Maybe the keyword search needs a bit of tweaking.

eppic · « **Reply #14 on:** November 17, 2009, 21:31 »

Quote

Has anyone checked out if they are the same outfit, or owned by the same people as depositfiles.com?

I did a whois lookup on both domains. While each is registered under a separate company and country, both have "Moniker" as the registrant.

stormchaser · « **Reply #15 on:** November 17, 2009, 21:37 »

Domain info for anyone who is interested

Registrant [2083484]:
   DepositPhotos Inc. DepositPhotos Inc.
   DepositPhotos Inc.
   110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700
   Fort Lauderdale
   FLORIDA
   33301
   US

Administrative Contact [2083484]:
   DepositPhotos Inc. DepositPhotos Inc.
   DepositPhotos Inc.
   110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700
   Fort Lauderdale
   FLORIDA
   33301
   US
   Phone: +1.9549900075
   Fax: +1.9549900075

I have no other comments other than I'm not in the mood for another Albumo at this time. Address looks like another mail drop.

LSD72 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 17, 2009, 21:55 »

I dont know about the Mail Drop thing. Here is a Aerial View of the Building... Across the street from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...lol. In the same building as Scottrade and Wachovia Finance.

Nevermind...linking did not work. Try clicking this link then input this address...

110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700, Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33301

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&layer=c&cbll=40.758437,-73.985164&cbp=11,42.04,,0,-6.66&ie=UTF8&om=1&panoid=s_TY766yv4kWDddHKN8OVQ&t=h&ll=40.75844,-73.985195&spn=0.042649,0.174923&z=13&utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk-svn&utm_term={keyword}

PixelBitch · « **Reply #17 on:** November 17, 2009, 22:02 »

Proceed with caution!

FD · « **Reply #18 on:** November 17, 2009, 22:52 »

Quote from: stormchaser on November 17, 2009, 21:37

Registrant [2083484]:
   DepositPhotos Inc. DepositPhotos Inc.
   DepositPhotos Inc.
   110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700
   Fort Lauderdale
   FLORIDA
   33301
   US

That suite 1700 must be huge. Loads of businesses have their "operations" center there. Look here, at Google.
"Results 1 - 10 of about 16,800 for 110 E. Broward Blvd. Suite 1700 Fort Lauderdale".
It's obviously a mailbox address with shared telephone/secretarial services to give operations anywhere in the US or in the world a legitimate US business address and contact point.

On the other hand, the site is programmed very well, the watermarks on the thumbs are pleasing and not too obvious, and I didn't see any bad English. The phrases on the contributor page are unique for them on Google so they don't seem to be "borrowed".
Judging from the overabundance of Russian locations on the "architecture" page, my bet is that the site was started by a group of Russian photographers with a clever approach, but it would be more reassuring if they gave their real info.

Update: I sent them a site mail inviting them to intervene in this thread to clarify some of the questions.

KB · « **Reply #19 on:** November 17, 2009, 23:48 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on November 17, 2009, 22:52

On the other hand, the site is programmed very well, the watermarks on the thumbs are pleasing and not too obvious, and I didn't see any bad English. The phrases on the contributor page are unique for them on Google so they don't seem to be "borrowed".

What I mentioned that appeared to be "borrowed" was the programmer's training manual. If you bring up iStock's in one browser and DP's in another, there is no doubt that one came from the other. It wasn't directly copied, but it was clearly used as a template, with just some of the words and phrases changed (but not even the order or numbering, for the most part).

As for poor English, I hate to cite examples since my own use of English isn't always the best. But here are just a few of dozens that seemed odd to me:
Our photobank is being in accumulating state and we welcome photographs and illustrators for cooperation.
We’ve put together several plans to serve your Biggest projects, your smallest needs, and Everything in between. (Odd capitalization; lots of similar examples exist.)
DepositPhotos gives you the option to Buy for your images by SMS.
Each Image is moderated and after that appears in your account and at the pages of our stock

And one odd example of what seems to me (based on their commission schedule) of strong hyperbole:
DepositPhotos is the internet’s highest-paying stock Image website you’ll find!

FD · « **Reply #20 on:** November 18, 2009, 01:21 »

Quote from: KB on November 17, 2009, 23:48

DepositPhotos is the internet’s highest-paying stock Image website you’ll find!

So what is it? Chinglish, Hinglish, Spanglish, Swinglish or Runglish? It's certainly not Floridian.

From the contributor's agreement:

Quote

After the registration you need to pass a formal examination test, during which you should upload 5 best photographs and a scan copy of the passport or other document proving your identity.

No way if they themselves hide behind a mailbox. A passport copy is OK when requesting a first payout, not while signing up to a new site.

Quote

The examination mark is an important parameter having influence on a inspector's loyalty to your photographs. If you are already working with other photo sites, we recommend you provide links to your portfolios. All these parameters – long professional experience, large portfolio – influence inspectors' loyalty.

It's certainly the first site where inspectors are loyal to the contributors.

shiyali · « **Reply #21 on:** November 18, 2009, 02:30 »

According to alexa.com, here is where most of the visitors to depositphotos come from

37.5% Belarus
21.2% Russia
9.0% Indonesia

Maybe that sheds some light on the origin of the site?!

leaf · « **Reply #22 on:** November 18, 2009, 03:19 »

Quote from: PixelBitch on November 17, 2009, 21:25

Has anyone checked out if they are the same outfit, or owned by the same people as depositfiles.com?

Yes, I have been emailing DepositPhotos a bit and DepositFiles and DepositPhotos have the same investors but are two different companies.

eppic · « **Reply #23 on:** November 18, 2009, 06:07 »

Well this is all very interesting! Hopefully a Deposit Photos rep will come to this thread to respond.

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #24 on:** November 18, 2009, 07:07 »

Good day, Sirs!

I am charged to register an account on this forum and to provide necessary explanations concerning the new project on behalf of the official representative of the new photo stock, DepositPhotos. English is not my native language, so please consider it.

- DepositPhotos is the project of the Russian Americans, or the Russians who live on the territory of the USA (many of them live on the US territory for different periods of time). One may make an analogy with Google, for example, where the Russians are presented in the same degree

.

- The real office with real employees and phones is located by the address which is specified in the whois of the domain and on the website in Contacts. You may both call or visit our representation office in the USA. We also have offices in Russia, Ukraine, London, Cyprus. In the nearest future we plan to publish the pictures of one of our representation offices. We would like to compete with Facebook in this direction.

- The project development started in 2008 and within a year the team of talented managers, programmers, and photographers from the USA, England, Russia, and the Ukraine created DepositPhotos.com

- At the moment project’s beta-testing is in process; we try to attract the best photographers for cooperation with us by paying for their pictures from our own budget (frankly speaking, we have rather good investments for this purpose). The loyalty program will be in effect until DepositPhotos enters the market. In accordance with this program it is stated: “a stocker cooperating with DepositPhotos should not receive less than he/she receives from the nearest competitor”.

Concerning the mistakes:

- Probably, in the process of preparing the documents there were some stylistic mistakes in English, but we do not consider them to be serious errors (did you read the Russian or the French ShutterStock?

), and at the moment competent specialists are working on correcting them. Everything will correspond to your requirements.

We need to do a great job, and we have money and experience to do it.

- DepositFile.com and DepositPhotos.com are two absolutely different teams which have no direct connection and which work in accordance with different norms, in different countries, and in different offices. As far as I understand the situation, both projects work legally and fight against copyright abuse, but each of them bases on different regulating norms (for example, in the USA for hosting companies DMCA).

We guarantee that our cooperation with partners in the sphere of copyright protection will be our priority. We are able to track the situation in the net, and will do our best so that the photographs of our partners could not get into the file-exchange systems ILLEGALLY!

I hope that I managed to clarify the situation with the new photo bank. And I hope that we will both be able to make profit out of these initiations.

Please feel free to ask any questions

eppic · « **Reply #25 on:** November 18, 2009, 07:57 »

Thankyou for helping to provide some clarification. Some have also mentioned, if you look at the previous posts, that there's documentation on depositphotos that very closely resembles that of Istock's. Can you comment on this?

RT · « **Reply #26 on:** November 18, 2009, 08:49 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 07:07

We also have offices in Russia, Ukraine, London, Cyprus.

Hi,

What's the address and telephone number of your London office?

FD · « **Reply #27 on:** November 18, 2009, 09:10 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 07:07

Please feel free to ask any questions

Thanks for the reply. You might consider leaving the passport copy out of the registration requirements, and delay it till the first payout. People might be worried about identity theft with unproven sites.

elvinstar · « **Reply #28 on:** November 18, 2009, 10:28 »

Looks like I just got my payout 4 days from when I requested it.

dirkr · « **Reply #29 on:** November 18, 2009, 10:51 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 07:07

“a stocker cooperating with DepositPhotos should not receive less than he/she receives from the nearest competitor”.

Could you elaborate on that a bit? It reads to me like you want your payouts to be higher than for equal download on competing sites.
If this is true, than given your payout schedule on your site you miss the goal.

The prices are cheap compared to e.g. Istock. Same for the payouts, even if you take higher percentage in account.
Sub commissions are too low compared to e.g. Dreamstime, Shutterstock, Fotolia, 123RF...
EL prices are too low.

It would be nice to have a newcomer not trying to compete on price...

nicemonkey · « **Reply #30 on:** November 18, 2009, 11:01 »

Eireann · « **Reply #31 on:** November 18, 2009, 12:00 »

Hi DepositPhotos!
Last night, (before reading this thread), I went ahead and registered.
It's fast and the 0.20 cent bonus is great, (thank you!), but this is not where we're heading. As your contributors we wish you well and want you to succeed in the long term. We all know it's not easy.
A few points to make.
The site's web designing is top class. Solid, easy to navigate, fast loading time and pretty to look at. The larger thumbnail view is one of the best I've seen so far.
Images look great and that's very important, well done!

The bad news is the broken English. Fix it as soon as possible or all your beautiful presentation and hard work is worth almost nothing.
Correct the faulty grammar and do not capitalize words mid sentence. It looks amateurish, unprofessional.
Designers are a Picky bunch and this just doesn't feel Right, if you know what I Mean

Look at Dreamstime! They're Romanians, my most favourite agency and one of the best in world. It can be done!
Wishing you all the best,

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #32 on:** November 18, 2009, 12:01 »

Payments are being made and many photographers have already received them. I think it is incorrect to ask questions about micro-payments of the company, which can organize such a project.

In any case the information on the first payments is already available in the net, while full credence to us is the matter of time. We are entering this market honestly and for a long period, and we would like to be clear for our partners. That is why our management has come to the decision to register representatives in outstanding communities of stock photographers and illustrators (which is a rare case, as far as I know). I hope this is for a long time and that from now on we will be able to inform you about our development.

A passport or any other identification document is obligatory at registration, and this condition should be observed by each author who applies his/her photos for examination. We are not able to change this rule. For the first week we registered about a thousand of photographers who uploaded about two hundred thousand photographs. We do our best to attract high-level professionals.

In England our office is represented by a law company which conducts the affairs of DepositPhotos. I am able to provide the phone number only by coordination with them in private. If necessary, you may contact us by any convenient way.

Concerning Istock. We consider this resource to be very reliable and respected; in our opinion, it is the lawmaker or even the inventor of the micro stock business model as an Internet service. We have the same business model with several additions and conveniences for our partners. It is hard not be alike using the same structure. However, we copied nothing from IStock for 100%. Let me provide you with an example on the global leaders of the Internet industry (at least it explains the similarity): Google and Yahoo; these are search services which borrowed the best from each other. Istock and DepositPhotos are services which sell stock photography. We do not copy – we take the best and develop it to perfect the business model in general. Much is ahead, of course.

KB · « **Reply #33 on:** November 18, 2009, 13:36 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 12:01

Concerning Istock. We consider this resource to be very reliable and respected; in our opinion, it is the lawmaker or even the inventor of the micro stock business model as an Internet service. We have the same business model with several additions and conveniences for our partners. It is hard not be alike using the same structure. However, we copied nothing from IStock for 100%. Let me provide you with an example on the global leaders of the Internet industry (at least it explains the similarity): Google and Yahoo; these are search services which borrowed the best from each other. Istock and DepositPhotos are services which sell stock photography. We do not copy – we take the best and develop it to perfect the business model in general. Much is ahead, of course.

I appreciate your coming here and discussing these issues with us. I do wish your company well, and hope it can compete successfully in this very crowded field.

But every other new and existing iStock competitor I am aware of managed to create their own photographer's manual without using iStock's as a template. That doesn't make DepositPhotos evil, but it does call into question in my mind your views of intellectual property rights. Though as you said, you did not directly "copy" their work:

==================================================

iStock:
3.0 - Nudity

iStock does accept artistic partial and full nudity stock photography, reserving the right to decline files if the subject and composition is considered pornographic, obscene, or otherwise unsuitable to the iStock collection.

Nudity Filter: Due to request, an "adult content" filter can be activated through your profile to remove potentially offensive images from your search results.

iStock defines adult content as "language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for publishing medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities." This includes patently offensive sexual or excretory references that do not rise to a level of obscenity.

Filter On:

* Exposed genitalia, pubic hair, female nipples
* Partially exposed genitalia, pubic hair, female nipples
* Sexually suggestive and potentially offensive subjects

Filter Off:

* Underexposed genitalia and nipples
* Non-sexual partial nudity

Depositphotos
3. Nudity, forbidden subjects

It is forbidden to upload pornographic, racially offensive, provoking international or religious conflicts Images on DepositPhotos.

It is also strictly forbidden to upload nude photos of persons who were under legal adult age at the time of the photography.

We Accept partial and full nudity photography, reserving the right to reject an Image if we considered it obscene or not appropriate for our collection.

Such Images are excluded from the search result by default. In order to view such Images a user has to switch off an «Adult filter»

Filter On:

* Underexposed genitalia and breasts;
* Partly nude subject without pronounced sexuality

Filter Off:

* Exposed or partly exposed genitalia, female naked breasts;
* Sexually abusive and provocative Images.

==================================================
As others have said, though, you absolutely need to hire someone NOW to fix the English pages, because some of them border on unintelligible (not to mention just wrong -- why shouldn't a photo of a lake be keyworded with "water"?).

Anyway, congratulations on a successful first week, and I hope you have much more continued success. Good luck!

PixelBitch · « **Reply #34 on:** November 18, 2009, 13:42 »

I would be very wary of any stock site that is not physically based in a Western country...a virtual office does not cut it...or a lawyer in London.

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #35 on:** November 18, 2009, 14:24 »

Our representatives are physically located in many Western countries. Time will tell. Thanks for your advice.

I addressed the question to the DepositPhotos office where the design was developed and where layout designers work. I received the following reply: the website was read by our colleagues from the USA and Great Britain, and they do not understand what mistakes are meant. Since I am not able to analyze the whole text adequately by myself I am asking you to specify the mistakes which discourage you.

RT · « **Reply #36 on:** November 18, 2009, 14:25 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 12:01

In England our office is represented by a law company which conducts the affairs of DepositPhotos. I am able to provide the phone number only by coordination with them in private. If necessary, you may contact us by any convenient way.

So why did you say earlier that you had an office in London when in actual fact you haven't, not everybody is as stupid as you think, "our office is represented by a law company which conducts the affairs of DepositPhotos" - you've paid £150 for a virtual office, one of many that are often run by law firms who forward mail.

Why not be open and honest from the outset, it would give people a bit more faith.

LSD72 · « **Reply #37 on:** November 18, 2009, 15:07 »

Question: Do you accept Raster Illustrations or do you take the same position as Istock and basically only allow Vector Illustrations.

KB · « **Reply #38 on:** November 18, 2009, 16:24 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 14:24

I addressed the question to the DepositPhotos office where the design was developed and where layout designers work. I received the following reply: the website was read by our colleagues from the USA and Great Britain, and they do not understand what mistakes are meant. Since I am not able to analyze the whole text adequately by myself I am asking you to specify the mistakes which discourage you.

There are literally far too many obvious mistakes to try to point them all out. It is the total of all these mistakes that I find discouraging, not any one in particular. I did give a few examples earlier in this thread.

If your colleagues in the US and UK can not find the mistakes, then it seems they also do not speak English as their first or primary language. In my opinion, you need some colleagues in the US and/or UK who speak English as their first language. They will easily be able to find the mistakes, I am sure.

leaf · « **Reply #39 on:** November 18, 2009, 16:37 »

Quote from: KB on November 18, 2009, 16:24

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 18, 2009, 14:24
I addressed the question to the DepositPhotos office where the design was developed and where layout designers work. I received the following reply: the website was read by our colleagues from the USA and Great Britain, and they do not understand what mistakes are meant. Since I am not able to analyze the whole text adequately by myself I am asking you to specify the mistakes which discourage you.
There are literally far too many obvious mistakes to try to point them all out. It is the total of all these mistakes that I find discouraging, not any one in particular. I did give a few examples earlier in this thread.

If your colleagues in the US and UK can not find the mistakes, then it seems they also do not speak English as their first or primary language. In my opinion, you need some colleagues in the US and/or UK who speak English as their first language. They will easily be able to find the mistakes, I am sure.

ditto - there are mistakes in virtually every sentence. I sent you an email just now with some more thoughts.

@ KB - funny - I just sent the email, checked this thread and you wrote almost verbatim what I wrote. So agreed, it is a problem that really needs to be fixed.

FD · « **Reply #40 on:** November 18, 2009, 19:16 »

One of their group of Russian Americans is Jaroslav74 (Shaker Heihts, United States, presumably Shaker Heights, OH) on DT. Great portfolio! But they'd better come out who really runs the shop and from where, since DT otherwise might ban this contributor. It happened before that DT banned someone that got involved in starting a competing site.

The English spelling/grammar is not that important for contributors but it is for prospective buyers in a saturated market. They might just get a bad impression and move on. If DP can find/pay virtual offices, it wouldn't be too difficult to find a freelance native American English copywriter.

It starts with the front page: "Buy photos easy" is not correct English; it should read: "Buy photos easily".
Two examples of the TOS:
Abuse, threaten, hunt down, affect a goodwill and image or any other any violate data protection rights of the third persons or other users of the Site.
The Site is operated, managed and controlled by DepositPhotos from the Florida, USA.

In general, the site looks great and very well programmed.

About security: their registration page is not https but simply http. Since I'm on public WIFI by antenna in a SE Asian city full of lurkers and hackers, I'm not going to send my personal data over a leaky line by the insecure http protocol.

Good luck!

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #41 on:** November 19, 2009, 06:04 »

Dear Sirs,
I will not explain the situation concerning the addresses of our offices and official representations any longer. This is silly. I am forbidden to do that, since it is not a serious topic for our discussion. I was also asked not to be engaged in empty polemics concerning the project which is now in the process of beta-testing. However, we are very grateful to all those who specified our mistakes on this stage.

We have nothing to be ashamed of. We have nothing to confess. And there is no one we should make excuses to. If one wishes to visit us physically – he/she may do it any time. At the moment our office is not so luxurious, but it is a real office located by the address indicated in our Contacts. The storey secretary will accompany you to the place where you will be listened and heard. Believe me, there is no need to pretend and make empty statements just for the sake of attracting several photo persons who are not able to analyze the situation and understand that such projects do not appear from scratch. At the moment the things with the project are going quite well. The base is being accumulated. Our hopes for the success are increasing.

Attention!

We do not force anyone to work with us and we do not ask for trust. It is up to you to decide whether you wish to participate in the project or not. It is your right to earn money or not. Everyone has the right to choose. Forget about us. From our part I can be just grateful to those serious people who have already started the cooperation with us. We will do our best not to let them down. We greatly value the opinion of intelligent and useful persons.

From this moment all paranoid requests will be ignored by us.

p.s. We accept photographs, vector illustrations, and raster vector illustrations.

RT · « **Reply #42 on:** November 19, 2009, 06:46 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 19, 2009, 06:04

I will not explain the situation concerning the addresses of our offices and official representations any longer. This is silly. I am forbidden to do that, since it is not a serious topic for our discussion.

...................

From this moment all paranoid requests will be ignored by us.

I think knowing the details of a company is very serious if I'm to do business with them and being told by you that you have an office in London then only to find out that actually you don't is something that concerns me.

I don't think anybody has made any paranoid statements in this thread they're justing asking sensible questions concerning who they might be doing business with, if you choose to ignore those questions then that to me appears suspicious.

YOU need to gain our trust not the other way round, so far you haven't gained mine and I won't be working with you.

FD · « **Reply #43 on:** November 19, 2009, 08:50 »

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 19, 2009, 06:04

I will not explain the situation concerning the addresses of our offices and official representations any longer. This is silly.

It's not. You ask people to upload all their personal data plus a passport copy via an insecure http protocol and you keep hidden yourself behind smoke screens and virtual offices.

Quote from: DepositPhotos/EN on November 19, 2009, 06:04

We have nothing to be ashamed of. We have nothing to confess. And there is no one we should make excuses to. [...] From this moment all paranoid requests will be ignored by us.

Paranoid? your network seems to be a breed of the (in)famous HeroTurko. I did some little research on your network and this is what I came up with.

1 - There is a clear link between depositphotos.com and depositfiles.com.
Not only the name prefix "deposit", but also the less-known registrar Moniker.com, and especially the "offices" in offshore tax and IP heaven Cyprus where depositphotos.com has "offices" (quote: We also have offices in Russia, Ukraine, London, Cyprus), where the depositphotos.com server is located (Cubestat, Host IP: 78.140.135.60 Site Hosted in: Cyprus) and where the owner of depositfiles.com, Bemrose Tradeinvest LTD (according to Cubestat: Host IP: 88.85.74.81, Site Hosted in: Cyprus, Owner: BemroseTradeinvestLTD) 54, Eleftherias st Parekklissia Limassol Limassol 4520 Cyprus is located.

2 - Let's now examine where most of the traffic comes from, according to Alexa, on depositfiles.com and on depositphotos.com.
Depositphotos: # 32.3% Russia, # 28.6% Belarus, # 8.5% Ukraine. Not exactly buyer's countries.
Depositfiles: Rank: # 17! in Russia, rank # 20 in Kazakhstan, rank # 24 in Belarus, rank # 27 Ukraine.

3 - So let's have a close look at depositfiles.com, probably the financier (you claimed to have deep pockets) and the programming resource of depositphotos.com.

Quote

According to robtex.com:
www.depositfiles.com ("BemroseTradeinvestLTD") has eight IP numbers , which are the same as for depositfiles.com. Some of them are on the same IP network. [...] www.depositfiles.com is ranked #143 world wide as depositfiles.com Child safety of this site is poor. Trustworthiness, vendor reliability and privacy is unsatisfactory.

Similar: ba-k.com, rom-news.org, letitbit.net, heroturko.com, partypoker.com, easy-share.com, gamebookers.com, sparkstudios.com

4 - Now let's do this interesting Google search: stock photos link:depositfiles.com.
My oh my, loads of links from illegal photo download sites to depositfiles.com. The 3 first:
- Filestube (stolen business photos).
- Funrapid (stolen Amazing Girls photos)
- Art4share.net - It's nice to "share" other people's work, hey?

But let's just have a look at some "shared" Business Ladies at tinydl.com, guys. All with links on depositfiles.com:
http://depositfiles.com/files/z84m712gm
http://depositfiles.com/files/2lnlap8f5

5 - I have downloaded one set as proof: 62MB, 15 stock photos - the 11-th one, business-lady(19) 4800x3504px, downsized by me to 1024 here, and available on Photosearch here for 499$ here at high resolution.

RT was right from the start.

edit: Slight edit by admin to remove racial commentary and borderline libelous statements.

sharpshot · « **Reply #44 on:** November 19, 2009, 09:07 »

^^^ Interesting but partypoker.com is one of the biggest poker sites and I haven't seen anyone complaining about them.

FD · « **Reply #45 on:** November 19, 2009, 09:57 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on November 19, 2009, 09:46

I didn't follow a lot of what FD is talking about and do not condone all the Name-Calling

I didn't call names. I drew conclusions based on some research. If people can't check links and see the obvious, I rest my case. Sure, partypoker might a legit site, but is Heroturko?

Depositphotos < Depositfiles < stolen photo hosting. It's all over the net. Just click. If you trust an office in tax heaven Cyprus and a virtual office in Florida and a clear connection to an illegal file hoster, I should rest my case.

Let's see what depositfiles.com is "sharing" from ShutterStock to move on. Check this link (Google: shutterstock link:depositfiles.com).
Let's just take one, download4design. But there are sites a galore, "sharing" your SS files for nada, zero, nothing.

Depositfiles = depositphotos, and they can sue me if it's not true.

And if you still don't believe me, repeat a similar search for Dreamtime. I'm currently downloading some "shared" HQ Dreamstime files from depositfiles.com. Google is yer enemy, Ruskies.

Subs are a wonderful thing.

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #46 on:** November 19, 2009, 11:07 »

Dear FD-amateur,

I have no wish to start polemics concerning depositfiles.com. I would like to only say that I have already stated everything that you describe now in the negative way. This information is nor concealed by us – it is stated as a fact. I do not understand who and in what is right, in your opinion?

Yes, we do have the office in Cyprus (now it is not an off-shore, but a part of the European Union. It is a pity that today many people do not know geography).

Yes, we do have offices (programmers, administrators, managers) in Russia, Ukraine (programmers, administrators), and in London (lawyers).

We do have the representation office in the USA by the indicated address, and there are real people working there (sales managers and consultants). In this project we work in accordance with the legislation of the USA, under the US jurisdiction, and pay taxes in the USA.

Yes, among the co-owners of the project there are Russian Americans (besides that, in Russia and European and Asian countries the most talented and cheap employees are concentrated), and we do not consider it to be negative. If you have racial prejudice towards some nations – please let us know.

Yes, we are related to depositfiles.com, since the company which owns this project, invested money in us. At the present stage we have no choice. This is very good money. Let me remind you that any working connection between depositfiles.com and depositphotos.com is impossible. These are absolutely different spheres of the Internet business.

As far as I know, the files on depositfiles.com and on other file exchange systems are uploaded by the users of the services, but not by their owners. There are norms regulating content circulation in the net (for example, DMCA in the USA). The Rightholder (or his/her representative) has the right to address to the support service with the complaint to delete his/her content. The service works legally and has a great number of users (the third place is occupied by users from the USA and Western Europe) and respected partners. We consider our investors to be serious and respected people.

If you have or will have the reason to doubt that reliable and honest people related to our project do exist, and if there are or there will be concrete claims – I would like to ask you to address us in private. After it we will provide you with the contacts of our lawyers.

NitorPhoto · « **Reply #47 on:** November 19, 2009, 18:09 »

FD-Amateur,

thanks for the info you shared. You did a great job tracking down this questionable linkage. I heard enough to wait long before I upload anything there.

On the other hand. Regardless of who these DepositAnything guys are this is rude how you talk about the "Ruskies". Not that I am one of them it just shocks my ear.

shiyali · « **Reply #48 on:** November 19, 2009, 19:02 »

Companies sometimes choose to set up in Cyprus, because it is still part of the EU, with all its benefits, but has lower taxes and operating expenses than other EU countries.

zymmetricaldotcom · « **Reply #49 on:** November 19, 2009, 19:08 »

Russkies is to my mind like "Canuck" or "Yankee" - a friendly, deferential term. I'd be interested to know if our Russian members thought otherwise - and if so, what is the correct friendly way to play on their nationality - I think most nations generally have a term that is friendly? Aussies, Kiwis, etc.

Irregardless, FD is an expat and world traveler like many of us - let's not semantics get in the way of the info uncovered. Answers, now- where does an "image agency" get off, being financed from a company that enables image piracy? "At the present stage we have no choice. This is very good money." I bet, congratulations!

There are hundreds of thousands of stock image results, is it expected independent producers or agencies are supposed to access & download from those virus-laden crap sites and file reports for each found image? Are you paying people for the time spent doing this?

shiyali · « **Reply #50 on:** November 19, 2009, 19:10 »

Quote from: NitorPhoto on November 19, 2009, 18:09

FD-Amateur,

thanks for the info you shared. You did a great job tracking down this questionable linkage. I heard enough to wait long before I upload anything there.

On the other hand. Regardless of who these DepositAnything guys are this is rude how you talk about the "Ruskies". Not that I am one of them it just shocks my ear.

"Ruskies" is used in a derogatory way by Americans and can be used in a neutral way by other countries. I am not defending depositphotos, but it does strike me as strange that people here give a lot of slack to picturenation even though they basically shut down overnight with everyone's images and don't provide any info on what happened, while at the same time assuming the worst about depositfiles without any concrete evidence. Is that because picturenation is British and "more trustworthy", while depositfiles is Eastern European? Do I smell a bit of racism and prejudice here . . . .

FD · « **Reply #51 on:** November 19, 2009, 21:03 »

Quote from: NitorPhoto on November 19, 2009, 18:09

On the other hand. Regardless of who these DepositAnything guys are this is rude how you talk about the "Ruskies". Not that I am one of them it just shocks my ear.

Yes I realized that too late and it has been edited out. In my part(s) of the world it's used as a friendly term in common and joking conversations, but that might be different in other parts. Given the international and formal context of this forum, it was wrong to use this kind of slang language. I'm sorry for it and I hope it wouldn't weaken my facts.

FD · « **Reply #52 on:** November 19, 2009, 21:22 »

Quote from: shiyali on November 19, 2009, 19:10

while at the same time assuming the worst about depositfiles without any concrete evidence.

I would never make such a strong post without an overabundance of evidence on the net that depositfiles hosts many illegal files, totally in the open and shamelessly. They even don't change the file names or hide the links from Google like many of the Rapidshare "sharers" do. Just click the Google links I gave, although I suspect many will vanish soon.

shiyali · « **Reply #53 on:** November 19, 2009, 22:19 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on November 19, 2009, 21:22

Quote from: shiyali on November 19, 2009, 19:10
while at the same time assuming the worst about depositfiles without any concrete evidence.

I would never make such a strong post without an overabundance of evidence on the net that depositfiles hosts many illegal files, totally in the open and shamelessly. They even don't change the file names or hide the links from Google like many of the Rapidshare "sharers" do. Just click the Google links I gave, although I suspect many will vanish soon.

I was not disputing your links to illegal files on depositfiles. I was talking about depositphotos and that there is no concrete evidence that they are up to funny business. By the way, rapidshare does not seem much different, go to rapidlibrary.com and type "shutterstock" or "istockphoto" into the search box and you will find dozens of illegal downloads.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #54 on:** November 19, 2009, 23:20 »

It's really a non-issue. Another non-starter that'll probably be gone within 2 months. Get yer money quick! (and change your passport ID #

)

Eireann · « **Reply #55 on:** November 20, 2009, 00:20 »

No, this is not about the money.
At least in my case it's not.
I registered 3 days ago (passport and all), and today I uploaded my first images.
To get the bonus you have to activate it.
And I didn't.
I might do it in the future, but for now I only wanted to help.
New site, better commission, I thought to give them a chance.
Apparently there's more going on here and I have a lot to learn. Nobody likes the DepositFiles connection - thank you FD for pointing that out to us.
However I find it hard to believe that anyone would go to such lengths just to get their hands on (yet more) illegal files.
I can only hope that the people behind Deposit Photos know better than that, and wish they'll be around for a lot longer than 2 months.
And by the way - the upload process is a breeze, inspection time a matter of hours and those thumbnails look beautiful.
Why ruin all this work?
I'm staying positive. For now.

nornskald · « **Reply #56 on:** November 20, 2009, 05:44 »

Hello, guys. I'm from Russia. I came to your forum and was amazed, why so much crap on a new stock? Has it swindled someone yet? not paid promised money? so where is such discontent surge from?
I could understand if your images would have been stolen, or promised money not paid out, or any other real problem took place. Yet, what is going on now causes a sensation of you guys have been paid for smear tactics.
You are bad-mouthing this new business as if it takes away your daily bread.

Registered purposefully to speak out. Thank you for the attention.

FD · « **Reply #57 on:** November 20, 2009, 06:16 »

Quote from: nornskald on November 20, 2009, 05:44

You are bad-mouthing this new business as if it takes away your daily bread. Registered purposefully to speak out. Thank you for the attention.

Can we expect more employees from depositfiles to sign up on the forum?

I'm out of here, since the point (with proof) has been made.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #58 on:** November 20, 2009, 07:17 »

Quote from: nornskald on November 20, 2009, 05:44

Hello, guys. I'm from Russia. I came to your forum and was amazed, why so much crap on a new stock? Has it swindled someone yet? not paid promised money? so where is such discontent surge from?
I could understand if your images would have been stolen, or promised money not paid out, or any other real problem took place. Yet, what is going on now causes a sensation of you guys have been paid for smear tactics.
You are bad-mouthing this new business as if it takes away your daily bread.

Yes, first posts from employees, ahem, newbie members are not to be taken really seriously. If you had been here any length of time, you'd have seen other "NEW FLASHY TREND SETTING ONE OF A KIND" microstocks come and go. The time is really over for anyone to break into the market, especially someone with questionable backing. Contributor and buyer trust and all that.

biedy · « **Reply #59 on:** November 20, 2009, 08:43 »

In my opinion, there is no need to be too cautious. Today, I noticed that a number of rather "famous" microstockers (e.g. nicemonkey) have uploaded their portfolio.

Btw, I am Western European and not employed there

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #60 on:** November 20, 2009, 09:22 »

Quote from: biedy on November 20, 2009, 08:43

In my opinion, there is no need to be too cautious. Today, I noticed that a number of rather "famous" microstockers (e.g. nicemonkey) have uploaded their portfolio.

Well, I'm not sure what your opinion is worth, as you're posting anonymously. "Famous" microstockers may be as misled as anyone else, although I certainly don't recognize the names of any of their "top photographers":
1. Jaroslav863
2. Grublee
3. Laures
4. Spaxiax
5. Aleksask
6. Myshkovsky
7. Tan4ikk
8. Ffotograff65
9. Kvkirillov
10. Marylooo

annabelle496 · « **Reply #61 on:** November 20, 2009, 09:44 »

Quote from: shiyali on November 19, 2009, 19:10

Quote from: NitorPhoto on November 19, 2009, 18:09
FD-Amateur,

thanks for the info you shared. You did a great job tracking down this questionable linkage. I heard enough to wait long before I upload anything there.

On the other hand. Regardless of who these DepositAnything guys are this is rude how you talk about the "Ruskies". Not that I am one of them it just shocks my ear.

"Ruskies" is used in a derogatory way by Americans and can be used in a neutral way by other countries. I am not defending depositphotos, but it does strike me as strange that people here give a lot of slack to picturenation even though they basically shut down overnight with everyone's images and don't provide any info on what happened, while at the same time assuming the worst about depositfiles without any concrete evidence. Is that because picturenation is British and "more trustworthy", while depositfiles is Eastern European? Do I smell a bit of racism and prejudice here . . . .

Not to mention Albumo, which was in California. Upped and disappeared with no explanation and members screaming for their money, not being paid.

Crestock either not paying their artists or very slow. Ignoring emails from contributors. If I recall, they are Scandanavian.

Imagevortex having a registered address in a pharmacy in the Vancouver region of British COlumbia. Ignoring emails for monthes. Not returning calls either.

I think this whole thing now is appalling and has turned into an inquisition.

BTW, I am also a new member, having only been here for about 2 or 3 monthes, so I guess my comments will amount to nothing per some members here...

A.

nicemonkey · « **Reply #62 on:** November 20, 2009, 09:50 »

Me famous

I dont think so...yes I have have uploaded the minimum amount of images I needed to get the payout and even had two sales and been paid and cashed out all of the money. I dont have any intention of uploading anymore images at the present time.

DepositPhotos/EN · « **Reply #63 on:** November 20, 2009, 12:09 »

I understand those authors whose content is placed in file exchange systems illegally, but the links to it are published without coordination with them. And I am fully on these authors’ side.

We have no connection to depositfiles.com, but we have the same big investor, and I am sure he is honest. DepositFiles.com is not the only big project which is owned by our investor. We could conceal this connection easily but we do not do that since we consider it to be a great advantage to our relations.

There is no other way in the world other than direct contact with the author or his/her representative. That is why file exchange hosting have no right to delete files until they are complained about. There is no other way, since the whole system and the basics of the Internet will be destroyed. The model will be destroyed. That is why in different countries there different norms regulating content circulation in the Internet. Absolutely all micro and macro hostings work by these norms and regulations. All web 2.0 projects, all “tube” systems (which you regard in your I-Phones), all micro and macro stocks. There is no other way.

I consider this fact slanting and racial prejudice of some persons who wrote here as a special-order event organized by either direct order or by their own silly initiative. We are entering the market and are ready for any attacks. I am asked to cashe all public accusations and slander from concrete persons with the possibility to further use of this material in court.

leaf · « **Reply #64 on:** November 20, 2009, 12:19 »

I think we have heard both sides now - so this thread will be locked.

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