There�s been a lot of internet discussion about iStockphoto since their price/credit restructuring in September, most of it focusing on photo sales. As primarily a video contributor, I�d like to point out the danger of what iStock is doing to the stock video market. They not only pay less per sale than other sites, but in the long run they�re threatening the profitability of the stock footage industry as a whole. I�ll make a case here as to why it�s in the best interest of non-exclusive contributors to stop uploading to iStockphoto and deactivate their files � as a growing number of contributors are already doing.

The unanimous opinion online of those who have looked into the data is that iStockphoto is an exploitative rip-off for non-exclusive video contributors. iStock�s base royalty rate for non-exclusive contributors is 15%. That�s half of what Shutterstock pays video contributors, and far below the 45%-50% payouts of Pond5 and RevoStock. Sites like Depositphotos, Fotolia and Dreamstime all have much higher royalty rates as well, though low sales amounts and subscription rates on at least Fotolia can make those sites not worthwhile. All in all, iStockphoto by far has the lowest royalty rate for non-exclusive contributors.

So what? Why not just take whatever you can earn from iStock? Because low pay devalues our work, with the larger threat being if iStock�s exploitative practices become successful and force other companies to compete by similarly lowering royalty rates. iStock�s short-sighted attempt to outmaneuver competitors could trigger a race to the bottom, with us contributors being hurt the most. It�s bad enough that one site insults us by paying us only 15% for the sale of our own work. If other sites follow suit, the financial loss over the years would be thousands of dollars for even small volume contributors.

So far, based on forum chatter, sales (including mine) have not responded well to iStock�s restructuring. Though that hurts in the short-term, it�s best for the long-term that this plan fail. The money I make at iStock is unfairly low, and not worth the money I stand to lose at other companies if they adopt iStock�s practices. That�s why I responded as many other contributors have in the last month � I stopped uploading new content to iStock, and recently deactivated all my video files there.

Note that everything I�ve said pertains to NON-exclusive contributors. iStock�s exclusive video contributors are in a completely different situation. They start at a 25% royalty rate, and are eligible for the �Signature� collection where clips sell three times higher than non-exclusive �Essentials� clips. So they stand to make good money � when their clips sell. Many complain that the new pricing on exclusive clips is so high it�s hurting sales. Regardless, the royalty is more equitable, so they don�t have the same reasons to abandon iStock as non-exclusives do. It would actually be greatly to the advantage of exclusive sellers if the non-exclusives did leave. When you have a high priced clip for sale, the last thing you want is a similar clip selling next to yours for literally one-third the price.

I believe what would be best for all contributors in the long term is if non-exclusives left iStockphoto en masse, essentially turning it into a shop that mostly sells exclusive clips. Some clients will pay for a premium for that, so let the market set that price and feed those contributors. Meanwhile, non-exclusive contributors can get a much fairer royalty rate at other seller sites.

If you sell through iStock, I encourage you to evaluate what�s best for your business both right now and in the long run. If you agree iStock is unfair in what it pays, consider no longer uploading to them and deactivating your files there. Send them an email that you�ll no longer accept an insulting 15% rate on your own work. They need to pay competitive with other companies or lose their non-exclusive supply.

You can hear from other iStock non-exclusive video contributors on the iStock forum here: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=362971&page=1

Instructions on how to deactivate iStockphoto files can be found here: http://istockfaq.gettyimages.com/how-do-i-deactivate-a-file/