I�m planning to purchase a new illustration/drawing tablet to create more illustration work. I have an old Wacom intuis that doesn�t allow me to draw directly onto a screen, it�s about 15 years old. I�d like to be able to draw directly in the tablet and create high resolution graphics for sale. What do you recommend? I�m worried I�ll get something and immediately want to upgrade if I don�t get high quality.

In my opinion, Elements is the best site for my photography and Evato is my very favorite agency. No, my items don't sell for a huge dollar amount, but they are fair to their contributors with their contributor share model. Currently, Elements and Adobe are the only two agencies where I see an increase. So if you are invited to contribute, it is an exciting opportunity. I've been focused on grad school for the last two years and I haven't been uploading like I should, but next week when I start again, my main focus will be Envato Elements. They are my top earner, and in my opinion the only agency that compensates me fairly for the work that I do. I have nothing but praise for their approach.

I got mine now too! I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Thanks every one. I have quite a few items and Elements is my favorite/top platform so I was getting nervous. It must have been a simple glitch. I'm glad that it is now fixed.

Has anyone else who sells in elements had a month without a contributor bonus? My account shows no bonus this month and I�m wondering what causes it? Am I below a certain sales threshold?

I think I can help shine some light on this. It seems your question is about copyright laws and what is allowed when creating work that will be sold for licensing and how it is used. It's confusing at first, but it will make sense eventually. I recommend doing more research. The simple answer is no, you can not use that background to shoot for stock photography and then sell an image that includes it without expressed written consent from the original artist or through the appropriate licensing. I'm assuming that is what other photographers here are referring to as a composite, because it is your photograph, but it also includes a photograph of another photographer's work, aka the background. It would be considered a derivative work.

Ink and Elm is making backgrounds to sell to photographers that include artwork created by other photographers. Most likely Ink and Elm purchased an extended license to be able to sell them in a commercial setting. This is no different than purchasing an extended license if you plan to sublimate a stock photograph onto a t-shirt or a mug and sell that mug for profit.Those usages are also considered derivative works. By creating backgrounds for sale, Ink and Elm is creating derivate works with (I'm assuming) the appropriate licensing from the art creator or representative agency to do so.

Most photographers who are purchasing these backgrounds will be using the backgrounds to take pictures of products that they are selling on their website, or to capture family photographs, etc. The difference between what they are doing and what you are asking to do is quite substantial.

Their end product will not be sold as a resale of the original commercial work. The product photograph will be displayed on a website, but the photograph will not be for sale. The senior or family portrait will be displayed on a wall or social media site, but the photograph will not be for commercial sale. That is considered personal use, or commercial use.

Ink and Elm has purchased licensing rights to sell the artist's image for extended commercial sale, that license does not transfer to you when you purchase a background from them. You can't sell the artwork of an artist without expressed written permission to do so, a transfer of copyright, or a license. The artwork that Ink and Elm is selling doesn't belong to them. The license they purchased allows them to use it. They probably purchase that license from a stock agency.

Most extended licenses allow for derivatives to be created, and also for commercial resale of the derivative, but it does not allow for transfer of those licenses for commercial purposes. Also most (if not all) stock agency licenses do not allow for resale of the original image or creation. It's the same reason that you can't take a picture of a pretty fabric pattern and sell it as a background on stock sites. You took the photograph, yes it may be pretty, but you didn't create the pattern, the textile artist did. You can't take a picture of an artists painting and then sell the photography without the artists permission, the interesting part wasn't created by you, it was created by the painter.

If you want to create a background to use for your stock photography that shows a wooden table you will need to be the creator of the wood table photograph that is turned into the background, or you will need to procure a license from a photographer that allows that type of use, otherwise you are infringing upon another person's copyright. Just because you can buy something to use in photography, doesn't mean that you can use it for commercial reselling purposes, especially if you are selling those photographs as your own. If you need a blue sky with snowfall, you will need to shoot an image of that yourself and then turn it into a background.

Does that make sense? If it doesn't I can try to answer some more. Hopefully this helps.

Addition:

You might think about reaching out to Ink and Elm if for some reason they have an agreement with the artwork creators to allow for such usage. My guess is that they don't. If they say that you can use the background for stock, I would ask to see the written agreement. Just because they say you can, doesn't mean that they are giving you accurate information. They may be confused about the copyright law and usage. If the original artist sues you for copyright infringement you don't have protection just because someone else sold the background to you or because they said you could use it. "I didn't know" isn't a valid form of protection in this case. The go ahead always needs to come from the original artist.

Quote from: cathyslife on September 20, 2018, 17:22

Quote from: EssexVIG on September 20, 2018, 16:09

There are 2,115 images, 22 pages shown as being for sale at this moment.
Now slightly off topic, I recently posted a shot of a wall in Verona that was covered in lovers messages and it was rejected as Non-Licensable Content (they do have many shots of the same subject for sale however). So how can you have shots of the items on this page, when it would be fair to say they are registered designs without any doubt. Any answers???

This has come up many times over the years. One theory is that people who do the reviewing are also photographers with portfolios and an image that is similar, so they reject it so theirs doesn�t have competition. Or, as you said, they already have many shots of the same thing. Maybe the images just don�t sell, so why keep accepting them? Who knows, their game, their rules.

You are saying those bots have portfolios and they reject similar to hold down the competition? 

If I leave the keys in my car, it's alright for you to steal it? The point is, SS can make things more difficult, but they can't eliminate theft. Also the problem is the person who stole the images, not the artist or SS, but you don't seem to see past what you want to believe, so you attack people instead of the ideas? And you seem to have a love hate relationship with agencies as you want them to pay you but don't like them and think they are dishonest, and you don't trust them. But you keep giving them your work?

A wall of graffiti is not allowed, and hasn't been for years. No artists rights...  you can't resll other artists works.

Back to the OP, I think you have a good case and hopefully SS is looking. We have all seen the messages here, "they closed my account and I did nothing wrong", so I hope SS is doing research and will close this, like the other image theifs we have seen here.

I still wonder if that person also uploaded your work to other places. That's scary and you'll have to chase them to get more accounts closed. Good luck!

Thank you! They responded this week and said they are still looking into it. So far I haven't found the work for sale anywhere else. Which is a good thing! I was really surprised to see my work stolen. It's pretty basic stuff. I would think they would steal something that would earn them a bit more. Perhaps mine they thought would be less noticeable. Thanks for all of the suggestions to everyone who has posted here. I will updated when I find out more.

Good job! I'm inspired.

I've received my payment, but not the report. Based on my payment, the report is going to be a sad one when I do get it. I'm usually slow in August and September though... so no surprise.

Thanks for sharing.

Patiently waiting....for another disappointing month. When I started, Istock was my top earner...now...not so much. Adobe stock and Envato are my winners that last two months. We'll see what this month brings.

It seems the profile is growing daily. Now it up to over 2000 images. It has been reported to Shutterstock but nothing has been done yet, I just got a canned email so far saying that they are looking into it.

Here is a link to my image that has been altered and listed for sale by the fake account. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/white-gold-ring-diamonds-1176773980

Here is a link to my image.
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-diamond-engagement-solitaire-wedding-band-379990138

Its a basic diamond ring, and nothing fancy, but still, it's mine. I'm an average photographer, and my stock photography sales are what support my camera and gear habit, so I'm not exactly happy. I am going to issue a takedown notice today. Hopefully others who's work has been stolen will see the post here and try to protect their images as well.

This seller,  https://www.shutterstock.com/g/maryam%20sadeghian has three of my top selling jewelry images listed for sale. The photos have either been flipped horizontally or the colors are slightly tweaked. Please check to see if your images are also in this portfolio for sale.