Hope everyone's doing well! I haven't been too active in the micro/mid-stock world lately (my last upload was months ago), but in the meantime I made a new tool that I think you might like. Or you might not ... it's a big beautiful world out there ... but it'd be good to get your feedback, anyway.

Here's the link: Lypse.com

Lypse automates your art/photo Tweets so that every time you upload a new piece Lypse posts it without you having to do anything. It's made to be super simple, and you're able to change services (i.e. galleries) at any point, and it will start Tweeting from there instead. At the moment it supports 14 sites (including 500px, iStock, Shutterstock, Getty proper, Flickr, and FAA). Links to the original image source are mandatory, so nobody can hijack your work.

Oh, and it's free - up to two Tweets per day.

Do you have a minute to take a look? It's beta-ish at the moment, but a good bunch of people are using it now and nobody's poodle has been set on fire.  If you like it, awesome! Please pass it on. Either way it'd be cool to hear your thoughts. Thanks

@LypseWeb

Thanks again for the questions and helpful comments. Here are some answers and details:

I couldn't find a copy of the license anywhere.

You can find it if you click the "Download" link on any image, or in the FAQ section, which is found through a link on the "About" page.

I see that you're not accepting recognizable people - is that just because you haven't figured out handling of model releases yet? If that's the case, then you probably want to also consider the property release issues for anything (home interiors) shot on private property. A lot of stock sites require us to submit property releases for photos of our own artwork (just to be on the safe side).

There's some slack with faces if it's an artistic representation and the artists states that the face was created entirely from their imagination. Interesting point about the property release being used in this context, too.

Who do you think your buyers might be? People currently using the stock image web sites but who are bored with the sameness of what they find, or some new group that doesn't currently buy stock images?

Mainly the art print buyer, who with ArtsyStock can not only create a print (one for personal use) but also retain the file and use it for other purposes; and also for the people tired of flipping through pages of similar stock photos that you mention - especially those looking for something with an artistic bent.

The other things you'll need if you expect people to upload is the ability to read IPTC data from the JPEGs or EPS - is that in place now? Do you accept vectors or just JPEGs?

Yes, the system reads IPTC data, and at this point we're only accepting rasters.

Your locks on content seem a bit excessive for a new site - 60 days to close an account (during which time the art remains on sale), and no more than 25% of your portfolio can be deleted in a 90 day period. Why do you feel you need those? When you're an unknown quantity, that's a lot of trust to ask for.

So far the contributors haven't mentioned it as an issue, but I'm flexible to adjusting the details if there's a need.

I hope you're planning to allow contributors to opt out of affiliate sales, and to publish a list of any such sites for contributors to see. There have been no end of problems with finding our work scattered all over the place and not knowing which agency licensed it, how much we would be paid, etc.

Right now there are only two - Foundmyself and ArtsyStock, and the pricing structure, license, and everything else is the same on both.

If you spend any time looking around MSG, you'll see that contributors keep track of how sites are doing and which ones are worth uploading to by talking about earnings, royalty rates, etc. People will talk your site up if they're doing well there or tell others it's not worth it if they're not. If you start closing accounts if people engage in that sort of discussion, I doubt anyone here will be interested in submitting to your site.

Good point.

 

Some questions ask you?

1. Sign in non 'artsystock.com' Why should other sites?
http://www.foundmyself.com/sell-art-stock.php

2. I would like to know is whether the bulk upload?

Thanks for the questions. So ...

1) Right - ArtsyStock is a standalone site that mirrors the art stock images for sale on Foundmyself, which is an online art community. In that way I hoped to focus the message, since FM's bells and whistles meant for artists might get in the way of the art stock images. From the seller's end, all the work is done on Foundmyself, and the results are mirrored on ArtsyStock. It's similar to how other stock sites have sister sites, but it's different in that none of the pricing or royalties change between sites.

2) You can upload up to ten images at a time as an approved contributor.

I gave it a go. Looks like it's going to sell. Thanks for the suggestion.

https://flippa.com/3001409-microstockvideos-com-net-org-secure-this-rare-keyword-rich-domain-set

Hi all -

Just wanted to let you fellow microstockers know that I'm selling a microstock video related domain set. I simply have too many irons on the fire at the moment to start another project! More info can be found at the domain itself: MicrostockVideos.com

Also included are the .net and .org domains. If you have any questions, please let me know. I'm not asking for a specific price, so if you're interested, feel free to shoot me an offer via the site, or PM via MSG. Thanks!

is it possible to opt out of subscriptions with photos?

I know you can with video.

From what I hear this is what many people would like to do- send images to ss only for regular single sales.

Yes, is this possible?

From 15b of the contributor agreement
b.You consent to service of any required notice or process upon you by email, registered mail or overnight courier with proof of delivery notice, addressed to the address or contact information provided by you at the time you are first granted access to the membership portions of the Site. You agree to waive any right you may have to (i) trial by jury; and (ii) to commence or participate in any class action against iStockphoto related to the Site or this Agreement.

Not saying that the language is ironclad, but we did agree to it

Once iS breaches their part of the contract, the rest is null and void.

I was refreshing the page to read updates on the thread about iStock licensing our photos to Microsoft (essentially letting users steal full size images without attribution ... but that's another story) when I got this: http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/4546/istockdown.jpg

My latest batch of images is going to Alamy, methinks.

I just received the 20% off any credit pack e-mail - coming to my contributor account, and nothing to the test account that received the 30% off agency e-mail.

Just got mine, so yours might just be delayed. My account is a contributor and buyer account, and I've purchased more than I've contributed, #s-wise.

  Love it. They can't even report on their mistakes without mistakes.

Oh and by the by, in the iS forum post of this announcement, to prove again to the world what a total asshat L*bo is, here's his super sensitive response to a long-time exclusive member deciding to give up the crown:

Posted By Jancouver:
I'm out, I have been around way too long and got almost 10K downloads and now I will be traeted as someone who started yesterday and just turned exclusive. iStock will take additional 17% of my revenue jsut because I didnt make the 11K sales. Like it was my fault. Good luck to you all, I cant take it anymore ... it was a good ride butunfotutnatelly now its over. Too bad I canceled the the other accounts when I bacame exclusive ... oh well, we all make mistakes.

Asshat:
Well, thanks for letting us know. If you have any questions regarding your account please feel free to contact Contributor Relations.

It's amazing to me that an online company, where anyone can review and search insider remarks and details so easily, would allow someone like this to be one of their major mouthpieces, especially when everything comes out the other end. Maybe it's time for an all-out grassroots campaign to topple this POS site once and for all. And that's coming from an exclusive.

Last year I was easily 25k over my target, this year my RCs have halved and I'll be almost 25k under my target... absolutely abysmal....

Wow, sorry to hear that. Were you uploading new work much this year, out of curiosity?

I hit 40% today actually and got the congrats email. A nice 15% increase. Nice way to start the day. 

Nicely done!