Quote from: WorriedIstocker on March 13, 2017, 09:16

I just learned on FB that a black diamond contributor dropped their exclusivity.

Would you mind sharing the link to fb post? Thanks

Hi, sorry for the delay in responding. They posted this to their personal FB page, not a FB forum, and I'm reluctant to "out" a contributor who doesn't participate on this forum, at least not very often. But it's true, they gave notice, 30 days have passed and they are uploading to other sites.

It's sad, but I think we're in an industry wide price war and race to the bottom, and stock photography is quickly becoming a less and less viable option to make a living. Even for the best and most talented among us. :-(

I think we may be at a tipping point after these recent changes. I just learned on FB that a black diamond contributor dropped their exclusivity.

To me, that's a pretty big deal when someone who has sold hundreds of thousands of files is fed up enough to take that step.

Hmmm, they were up to at least $275, soon after launch (I looked because I could hardly believe someone had suggested it!)
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There is an update at the fundraiser explaining they had to cancel it because istock employees aren't allowed to accept gifts.

Why they would throw a party to celebrate this monumental screwup is beyond my understanding.

Mine are different too.

Also, the amount reported for 2016 doesn't match the amount reported on the tax form I received from Getty so I haven't filed my taxes yet.

I think the stock industry in its present form has about 3-5 years left with royalties constantly declining because of too much content and a price war between the agencies.

At some point it won't be worth it for small contributors to justify the time and expense to produce content.

I also expect a shakeout with more consolidation and some agencies going out of business. Getty has an enormous amount of debt so it remains to be seen how they will fare.

People are still frantically uploading while there's some money to be made but most are losing ground. At some point the music will stop. Be prepared for when it does.

Quote from: littleny on February 24, 2017, 22:10

I have no idea what's going on or what these people are doing. Just received an additional clarification of the original clarification lmao!!  I give up. So long as they fill my PayPal with something I'll be happy

Gosh, that must be music to their ears, and three plusses.
So at least four people who don't care if they get paid the correct amount so long as they get paid "something".

Exactly. And that's why the race to the bottom continues.

It's sad, but I think we're entering a new vicious phase of the price war between the agencies and unfortunately, the contributors will be the casualties. I doubt the most recent pay cut will be the last one...

qHero and DeepMeta are actually independently developed to make the upload process easier, they are not developed by IS.
While using DeepMeta, the only thing that really slows me down is the useless IS curated dictionary or whatever they call it. I can't login in DeepMeta3 so I can't comment if it's any easier than it used to be, but by jusdging by the current ESP upload IS is still using that.

The old Deepmeta was awesome and a joy to use, but 3.x had to comply with this new ESP thing and has made everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be.

I've stopped uploading so I don't really care anymore.

So the royalty statements are out... that's great, but I'm new to this and I can't find the answer to this... why do some sales result in a $0 commission? How come it shows the sale amount as negative? Ugh. If someone knows I'd love to know.  I feel ripped off. I worked hard to make those images!

Maybe the $0.00 ones are files that were used for promotional purposes. I don't think we get paid for those. Anyone know?

I have never received mine too and my portfolio is 18.000 and their share is 8.000 $/month with me....
i'm getting tired of them and their policy to ignore photographers
I'm starting to want to do a law suit against them , any photographer who a quite big portfolio or revenue (around a 1000$ min) is welcome to contact me to join our forces ...
i am actually in Colombia for a trip until mid march
From this date i will post a thread on this forum and start action
like contacting lawyers but also by contacts all the french magazine that i know (and from my 30 years in this job , i know a lot ) to warn them of the situation you can do the same on his side ...
it's time for a massive attack and make them know what are the French exception artist support and cultural law
don't be afraid you have nothing to loose regarding their new deal and don't believe because they are Goliath you can't be David ....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I remember reading here that we're not allowed to sue them per the ASA. Perhaps Shadysue can clarify? Thanks.

Quote from: WorriedIstocker on February 04, 2017, 12:40

Finally managed to log in and download deepmeta 3.0. I'm watching the tutorial and to be quite honest, I don't like the new version at all. The old one was much more intuitive and easy to use but I guess he had to cripple the program to accommodate ESP. I wonder how much money they wasted on all this? Guess that explains the latest round of paycuts for everyone...

You're probably mostly referring to the way Batches are handled?
I must admit I've been struggling with this. The ESP site is 100% focused around batches: it's your starting and endpoint. This makes sense for ESP, being an upload portal.

With DeepMeta, I don't want to lose the "portfolio management" part. I know there's very little (if any) management left in V3 at this point, but to me, V3 a new starting point, and I'm determined to go beyond what DM 2 could deliver.

This is why I still have flat lists of Files and Releases in there. Contributors will want to see stats and work at the level of their portfolio as such, not necessarily in the context of batches.

I realize I have a long way to go, but I'm not a quitter

All feedback, positive and negative is totally welcome. Don't hold back

Don't get me wrong Franky, I do appreciate Deepmeta and your years of support, refusing to accept any kind of payment from contributors. I'm glad Getty did the right thing and put you on the payroll.

My frustration is with ESP which is much more cumbersome and less transparent than what we had. I log in, and am greeted with a big nothing, a nuclear winter of zero data. I can't even see any of my portfolio. Did they solicit any kind of feedback from actual contributors before rolling this out and foisting it on the community?

Granted, the old upload interface was istock's Achilles heel, but with Deepmeta 2.X, uploading, tracking portfolio and performance was a joy. Deepmeta 3.X, as it stands now is a step back into the dark ages. Again, not your fault, we're all Getty's handmaidens in this with no say.

I'm hoping things will improve, but at the moment, I have zero motivation to upload, especially in light of ever dwindling sales.

Again, thanks for your hard work, if you had a hundred siblings to run IT, things would be ok.

"...but I do tell people where to find information..."

Sue: I, for one, appreciate all your helpful and informative posts. I think you should be moderator on istock forums. 

I am not uploading any new footage to Getty/iStuck anymore! I am so glad I am non-exclusive now in photo and video!!!!!!!

Wow! I remember you used to be one of istock's biggest supporters on the forums!

This is very frustrating. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find even the most basic info about my earnings.

I sure hope the promised "improvements" next year make things more transparent...