How long last the procedure for termination of exclusive contract with Istockphoto?

Thanks!
I'm still not entirely sure but my earnings here has dropped by half, and I'm getting closer to that decision.

Be very sure of what you're doing. Some have given up exclusivity and have found it a lot more difficult out there than they expected. Some have returned to exclusivity apparently.

Here's someone it hasn't worked out for...
http://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/ss-one-year-on/msg0/?topicseen#new

I terminated my exclusivity at the beginning of 2012, but did not start uploading to other agencies until october (life and other work got in the way). Not a good move financially (I hope that will change with time), but it was necessary for my peace of mind. Frankly, the way contributors are treated there nowadays makes me me wonder why I (or anyone) still bother to upload there.

Are they treated better elsewhere?  I dont think so. Just that we put up with it simply because they dont enforce exclusivity.

I dropped the crown the month they revealed the new royalty plan/RC debacle.  Between the terrible customer service, and payment issues that was it for me.  In my case it was worth it to have my freedom, it took a while to build back up financially but now I have the peace of mind that my income is spread out over several sites one of which is all mine so I don't have to lose sleep over iStock/Getty changing the game overnight.  It's a personal decision based on you circumstances but I'm one happy former exclusive.  Good luck either way!

Best of luck if you make that choice Brett, long been a fan of your work. I made the jump only last month so pretty new and can't comment on any financial success, but I've found the love again for stock work, actually enjoying logging in to see whats happened download wise - rather than the negative feeling of what have they broken now. Got to the point my confidence in their interest in their contributors was rock bottom and some of their business decisions were just plain depressing.

One month independent now, only on 1 other site so far but already more downloads in that month than I've ever had to date per month on iStock. Royalty level as a starter is certainly down and therefore cash is down for now but as I said happy levels back up.

Gotta try something, grass may not prove to be greener for long but so far, so good. Right now thinking 2 sites is good for now, may expand but sort of going slowly as I start my life as an independent. Will keep uploading to istock tho and continue to be a member as I have had good experiences there and cling to the hope the site will once more be the place i used to love.

I'm nearly 18 months into my return to being indie and things are looking pretty good - with the exception of iStock's sales. They are my second agency in monthly $$, so I'd rather they didn't implode. November isn't quite over yet, but I'm up 30% up over last November and within striking distance (but I doubt I'll make it without some lucky ELs) of my all time high of November 2010.

Keywords in the IPTC and generic (versus tailored to iStock's CV) would be general advice about something that can trip people up when submitting to multiple sites. As you do vectors, figuring out each site's vector submission rules (much less homogenous than for images) in advance would probably make sense too.

@ jonlarter

That is so lovely and refreshing to hear.  We get so obsessed with numbers around here that it's easy to forget the happiness factor.  Obviously the degree to which contributors can focus on that varies according to how dependent they are on microstock income... BUT I'm so pleased to read your post and am very happy for you.

Yeah, I want to try to get back to enjoying myself again.  The changes from two years ago and the constant death spiral haven't inspired much enthusiasm and a chunk of my decline is from lack of uploading.  I don't need actual gains as much as I need the possibility of gains to inspire new stuff.   

Well said. I realize one of the reasons for implementing the RC system was to encourage new uploads and keep the collection fresh. But everything else that's happened since then has been so demoralizing, there's little incentive to upload. And what is the point of new files if they're not getting seen in search results? Every day I get DLs on files I forgot were even in my portfolio, they're so old. So it's like there's a double disincentive to create new files.

I've found other work, so I no longer rely on iStock for my income - maybe it would be good to break free and find some joy in it again.