Quote from: obj owl on January 31, 2019, 14:44

Quote from: Not Today on January 31, 2019, 13:09

1) They call themselves a platform and not a stock agency, so contracts are directly between the buyers and photographers.

Not so.  Wemark License Agreement  http://cdn.wemark.com/agreements/Wemark_Standard_License.pdf

1. INTRODUCTION
a) This Wemark License Agreement ("License") is a binding contract between you or the employer or other entity on whose behalf you are entering into this agreement ("you" or "Customer") and Wemark Digital Ltd. ("Wemark"). It sets forth the rights and obligations of you and Wemark with respect to any Images licensed  from  Wemark  by  you.  By  downloading  any  image  from  any  Wemark  website,  you  are consenting to the terms of this agreement, the Wemark Privacy Policy and Wemark's Platform Terms of Use which are incorporated herein and made a part hereof by this reference.

:s

"Wemark is a growing community of leading independent photographers licensing their photos directly to customers, with no agency involved."

https://www.wemark.com/about

The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on January 31, 2019, 15:42
The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

Or $10...

Quote from: davidbautista on January 31, 2019, 15:50

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on January 31, 2019, 15:42
The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

Or $10...

Yes, a bit of gamble lol

I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on January 31, 2019, 15:42
The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

The other big problem is that there has been no word that I've seen about any sort of marketing of the agency to potential buyers. If this is just a place to host your images with no marketing other than what the contributor does themselves, then I can't see what the attraction is. Marketing and sales generation is the hard part.

I don't see how they have anything to appeal to buyers. Their premium content isn't exclusive and is overpriced. For example, I found a large collection of images from an outfit called Mint Images that is also on Alamy and Dissolve (with the same content). Wemark's prices are much higher than Alamy prices for the same images.

What type of stock imagery buyer would prefer to obtain images where you have to deal with the volatility and hassle of buying tokens? What large corporate buyer is going to put up with this extra hassle?

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on January 31, 2019, 16:18

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on January 31, 2019, 15:42
The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

The other big problem is that there has been no word that I've seen about any sort of marketing of the agency to potential buyers. If this is just a place to host your images with no marketing other than what the contributor does themselves, then I can't see what the attraction is. Marketing and sales generation is the hard part.

I don't see how they have anything to appeal to buyers. Their premium content isn't exclusive and is overpriced. For example, I found a large collection of images from an outfit called Mint Images that is also on Alamy and Dissolve (with the same content). Wemark's prices are much higher than Alamy prices for the same images.

What type of stock imagery buyer would prefer to obtain images where you have to deal with the volatility and hassle of buying tokens? What large corporate buyer is going to put up with this extra hassle?

Absolutely agree.
Just to add one more concern on the currency part, there will be currency conversion from WMK to ETH/BTC and from there to USD. To do so we have to go on exchange. First we have to pay fees on the transaction(inside ERC-20), then fees on the exchange and most likely fee for the withdrawal. With small amounts will be expensive, to hold for big amount is very very risky in crypto, because until the moment of withdraw this WMK can value hundred times less(or more of course).

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

It won't necessarily make any difference. Thieves will steal, international law is prohibitively expensive, and block chain won't make one iota of difference to that. How is blockchain any better than having your copyright in meta (where it's still in the thief's use?).

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

Yes that's part of the plan that they are selling us. All sales are tracked and have an ID. Remember Kodak Coin and that place, hasn't ever gone live. Also after watching video, it appears that the guy who started Wemark, may have started Picasa at Lifescape in 2002, Picasa which was sold to Google.

Quote from: Deyan Georgiev on January 31, 2019, 15:42
The big problem I see there is the volatility of every cryptocurrency, there's a huge risk $1 commission to become 1 cent just in one night.

While true, that's a bit over stated. At the same time, crypto seems to have stabilized after all the whooha and investing. Companies that went into mining for profit have found their projected earnings are falling. It's not the boom it was, and it was a bubble and Tulips.  But for our interest, the values have become more stable. And yes, you could have $1 today and 90 cents tomorrow, or $1.10 tomorrow. I don't like playing the market with my earnings.

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on January 31, 2019, 16:18

The other big problem is that there has been no word that I've seen about any sort of marketing of the agency to potential buyers. If this is just a place to host your images with no marketing other than what the contributor does themselves, then I can't see what the attraction is. Marketing and sales generation is the hard part.

I don't see how they have anything to appeal to buyers. Their premium content isn't exclusive and is overpriced. For example, I found a large collection of images from an outfit called Mint Images that is also on Alamy and Dissolve (with the same content). Wemark's prices are much higher than Alamy prices for the same images.

What type of stock imagery buyer would prefer to obtain images where you have to deal with the volatility and hassle of buying tokens? What large corporate buyer is going to put up with this extra hassle?

Home Run - Marketing? Content is same as all the rest. Higher prices on some. Extra hassle for a changeable currency.

Fine point and I made the same mistake. These are Tokens, not Coins.

On the surface the sell to us looks good, but what about the buyers? I'd say the most positive part would be, it costs us nothing to upload and watch? I'm just going to watch... or if I do upload some content, I'm going to price it for what I think the fair price is, if someone found it on SS, AS or Alamy. I will not compete with myself on price!

Here's Etherium for the last year. (and I'm calling this stable?)  After the three peaks, I think we've seen the last of the boom and fad investors. We can all watch for six months and see how that prediction works out. But back to what Jo Ann wrote. Imagine you are a buyer and want photos, you buy some WMK and your $100 is $90 the next week, before you spend it. For us, we get paid and can watch for a peak and cash out to our wallet, or just sit on the money and hope.



Here's an interesting article about Coins and Tokens and how crypto curreny works.  https://masterthecrypto.com/differences-between-cryptocurrency-coins-and-tokens/

Every time I read something new, I learn more and I still haven't bought into the whole cryptocurrency will be disrupting how the world does business. So far it's just an interesting technology and has some future potential. The theoretical is grand and imaginary, reality is different.

My experiment continues. It seems I need to set up some kind of magic beans wallet...can anyone give a non technical steer on this? If its going to cost be anything I'm out.

"WMK is an ERC20 token, so any wallet that supports this standard protocol will automatically support WMK.
A popular for storing your tokens is  MyEtherWallet but we recommend doing some additional research to decide what's right for you."

Hope its simpler for buyers or its going sink.

I can't find any metrics on the site either.

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 11, 2019, 15:06
My experiment continues. It seems I need to set up some kind of magic beans wallet...can anyone give a non technical steer on this? If its going to cost be anything I'm out.

"WMK is an ERC20 token, so any wallet that supports this standard protocol will automatically support WMK.
A popular for storing your tokens is  MyEtherWallet but we recommend doing some additional research to decide what's right for you."

Hope its simpler for buyers or its going sink.

I can't find any metrics on the site either.

There is no metrics.
Opening a ERC20 token wallet is free.
I use MetaMask for that purpose.

Quote from: davidbautista on February 11, 2019, 18:45

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 11, 2019, 15:06
My experiment continues. It seems I need to set up some kind of magic beans wallet...can anyone give a non technical steer on this? If its going to cost be anything I'm out.

"WMK is an ERC20 token, so any wallet that supports this standard protocol will automatically support WMK.
A popular for storing your tokens is  MyEtherWallet but we recommend doing some additional research to decide what's right for you."

Hope its simpler for buyers or its going sink.

I can't find any metrics on the site either.

There is no metrics.
Opening a ERC20 token wallet is free.
I use MetaMask for that purpose.

I'm not optimistic that I'm going to sell anything but its an interesting learning experience I guess ;-)

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 11, 2019, 19:28

Quote from: davidbautista on February 11, 2019, 18:45

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 11, 2019, 15:06
My experiment continues. It seems I need to set up some kind of magic beans wallet...can anyone give a non technical steer on this? If its going to cost be anything I'm out.

"WMK is an ERC20 token, so any wallet that supports this standard protocol will automatically support WMK.
A popular for storing your tokens is  MyEtherWallet but we recommend doing some additional research to decide what's right for you."

Hope its simpler for buyers or its going sink.

I can't find any metrics on the site either.

There is no metrics.
Opening a ERC20 token wallet is free.
I use MetaMask for that purpose.

I'm not optimistic that I'm going to sell anything but its an interesting learning experience I guess ;-)

First person to get a download there and actually turn their coins into money, cashing out for useful currency, wins a cookie or a biscuit.

Be the first to report your achievement here.

Quote from: ShadySue on January 31, 2019, 16:57

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

It won't necessarily make any difference. Thieves will steal, international law is prohibitively expensive, and block chain won't make one iota of difference to that. How is blockchain any better than having your copyright in meta (where it's still in the thief's use?).

Wemark aside, one distinct advantage I can see is that a blockchain ledger can quickly and easily provide dispute resolution in the case of a copyright infringement claim. For example, instead of going through hoops proving to a site like SS that you are actually the legitimate copyright holder of a stolen or suspect work - which can take a lot of time during which your account will likely be suspended - you can simply point to the original copyright registration and that is that.  Same goes for DMCA takedown notices or even threatening letters from your own lawyer.

Quote from: DavidK on February 13, 2019, 15:12

Quote from: ShadySue on January 31, 2019, 16:57

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

It won't necessarily make any difference. Thieves will steal, international law is prohibitively expensive, and block chain won't make one iota of difference to that. How is blockchain any better than having your copyright in meta (where it's still in the thief's use?).

Wemark aside, one distinct advantage I can see is that a blockchain ledger can quickly and easily provide dispute resolution in the case of a copyright infringement claim. For example, instead of going through hoops proving to a site like SS that you are actually the legitimate copyright holder of a stolen or suspect work - which can take a lot of time during which your account will likely be suspended - you can simply point to the original copyright registration and that is that.  Same goes for DMCA takedown notices or even threatening letters from your own lawyer.

If I have filed for a copyright, I have the proof, why do I need Wemark? How is blockchain different from now for disputes?

Quote from: DavidK on February 13, 2019, 15:12

Quote from: ShadySue on January 31, 2019, 16:57

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

It won't necessarily make any difference. Thieves will steal, international law is prohibitively expensive, and block chain won't make one iota of difference to that. How is blockchain any better than having your copyright in meta (where it's still in the thief's use?).

Wemark aside, one distinct advantage I can see is that a blockchain ledger can quickly and easily provide dispute resolution in the case of a copyright infringement claim. For example, instead of going through hoops proving to a site like SS that you are actually the legitimate copyright holder of a stolen or suspect work - which can take a lot of time during which your account will likely be suspended - you can simply point to the original copyright registration and that is that.  Same goes for DMCA takedown notices or even threatening letters from your own lawyer.

I've got an Irish lawyer using one of my Alamy pics he presumably lifted from a legit sale. The copyright notice is in the metadata, so it's not disputable. He has ignored contacts from Alamy, a registered letter, two emails and three phone calls from me, and an IP lawyer pointed out the costs of pursuing it further, DMCA being irrelevant outwith the US. I can't imagine how blockchain would resolve this situation. He knows it's my copyright, there's no dispute about it, but he knows I'm not going to throw hundreds of pounds at getting it resolved (Under EU small claims, I'd have to physically go to the court for the hearing, so return flights and probably two nights accommodation needed, and no expenses are payable).
Essentially, you have unwitting infringers (those who genuinely don't know any better, and there are still many of these) and knowing infringers. The first will usually at least take down on the initial contact. The second just sit pretty smirking.

I don't know how it works in Europe but in the US even if you win and get a judgement it is really hard to get your money if they don't want to pay you. You can sell your won judgement to a collections agency for maybe 5% to 10% of its value. At the end of the day there will be jerks that steal your work. .....

Quote from: mj007 on February 13, 2019, 16:01
I don't know how it works in Europe but in the US even if you win and get a judgement it is really hard to get your money if they don't want to pay you. You can sell your won judgement to a collections agency for maybe 5% to 10% of its value. At the end of the day there will be jerks that steal your work. .....

Yeah, but a LAWYER!!!
http://www.kennysullivan.ie/contact

https://tinyurl.com/yyve6km3

Blockchain is often cited here as being the solution to unpaid-for uses, but I can't see that it will make one bit of difference.
Interested to hear why others think I'm wrong.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 13, 2019, 15:21

Quote from: DavidK on February 13, 2019, 15:12

Quote from: ShadySue on January 31, 2019, 16:57

Quote from: Zero Talent on January 31, 2019, 16:07
I have not read the details, but crypto-payments aside, are they planning to use the block-chain technology to keep track of the way images sold through them are being used, thus enforcing their copyright?
If yes, this can be a break-through worth paying attention to.

It won't necessarily make any difference. Thieves will steal, international law is prohibitively expensive, and block chain won't make one iota of difference to that. How is blockchain any better than having your copyright in meta (where it's still in the thief's use?).

Wemark aside, one distinct advantage I can see is that a blockchain ledger can quickly and easily provide dispute resolution in the case of a copyright infringement claim. For example, instead of going through hoops proving to a site like SS that you are actually the legitimate copyright holder of a stolen or suspect work - which can take a lot of time during which your account will likely be suspended - you can simply point to the original copyright registration and that is that.  Same goes for DMCA takedown notices or even threatening letters from your own lawyer.

If I have filed for a copyright, I have the proof, why do I need Wemark? How is blockchain different from now for disputes?

You don't. That's why I prefaced with "Wemark aside..." I am not talking about Wemark but rather standalone blockchain copyright registration services.

If you are already formally registering your copyright elsewhere non-digitally, then that's a different story and I don't necessarily see any advantage for you. Other than perhaps the ease and costs associated with proving your ownership elsewhere. For me the ease and cost (free) of using a blockchain ledger to register my stuff makes a lot of sense; and long before someone else rips it off and registers it as their own.

To me it's all about the collection and clients. This blockchain thing is on secondary importance for success. For now i see a good Premium selection and the website works smoothly, but we'll see what about the clients.

Quote from: ShadySue on February 13, 2019, 16:12

Quote from: mj007 on February 13, 2019, 16:01
I don't know how it works in Europe but in the US even if you win and get a judgement it is really hard to get your money if they don't want to pay you. You can sell your won judgement to a collections agency for maybe 5% to 10% of its value. At the end of the day there will be jerks that steal your work. .....

Yeah, but a LAWYER!!!
http://www.kennysullivan.ie/contact

https://tinyurl.com/yyve6km3

Blockchain is often cited here as being the solution to unpaid-for uses, but I can't see that it will make one bit of difference.
Interested to hear why others think I'm wrong.

No I think you are totally correct.