MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: Elenathewise on February 26, 2013, 18:23
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http://www.businessinsider.com/how-shutterstock-was-founded-2013-1 (http://www.businessinsider.com/how-shutterstock-was-founded-2013-1)
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thanks Elena, always nice to hear Jon
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It's amazing to hear how the agency was started...
But I still doesn't like the referral earnings cut...
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It was interesting to hear his point of view on the "free" image use on the internet - he says they sell to businesses mainly, so it's not an issue if someone takes an image and posts in Facebook or Pinterest; but where do you draw the line? Is it ok for someone to "steal" the image for their school project? how about to illustrate some event in your church or community center? or put it on your website? All these things are happening, Google image search change is only making it much easier, and photographers are seeing their images plastered all over the internet in a mix of illegal/semi-legal/legal uses. I still think that someone making let's say a newsletter for their college should acquire legal rights to use the images, yes it's not a business use but seriously they can afford paying a dollar to the agency or photographer, with prices so low they shouldn't even think twice. There has to be a way to protect photographer's copyright even in these cases, what would be nice to see if Jon and his team with all their computer/internet technology expertise would come up with an easy way to do it!
A candy bar also costs just a dollar, and yet it's illegal just to grab it off the shelf and eat it without paying; why images are different? All convenience stores these days have security cameras in them to prevent the theft of candy bars, we really need corresponding technology to prevent the theft of images.