MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: ShadySue on June 04, 2014, 07:44
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I would really like to meet the famous legally 'reasonable' person.
Not content with labelling faux-exclusives files 'only from iStock', I just noticed iS's home page (which I don't usually have cause to see). Above the huge search box, the text reads: "Explore millions of stock photos, vectors, videos and music clips you can only get from iStock", but of course entering a search brings indie as well as exclusive and faux-exclusive files.
I realise that the phrase is carefully worded - it doesn't actually say that you will find only images which you can only get from iStock when you search, but that surely is a strong implication. In the UK's ASA that would be down to what a 'reasonable person' would infer.
So, where is s/he?
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I would really like to meet the famous legally 'reasonable' person.
Sid Vicious famously claimed to have met the man in the street (https://www.google.com/webhp?tab=ww&ei=mRiPU87cFqid0wXmjIGgAw&ved=0CBcQ1S4#q=%22I've+met+the+man+in+the+street+and+he's+a%22)
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery)
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[url]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery[/url] ([url]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery[/url])
Oh, I guess that's how IrnBru got off with that 'made in Scotland from gurrrrrders' line.
Still, while a reasonable person would reject snake oil claims, it's where the line is drawn that interests me.
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I don't know the numbers, but does IS actually have 'millions' of exclusive images? If so then the statement is true, in a weasel-y sort of way, although the search isn't confined to those images.
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I don't know the numbers, but does IS actually have 'millions' of exclusive images? If so then the statement is true, in a weasel-y sort of way, although the search isn't confined to those images.
Indeed, but the implication is that in searching you are exploring only these images.
But am I a 'reasonable' person.
Yes, the statement wasn't confined to images alone, and on the keyword 'people' there are 1,364,224 ££ and above photos, illos, video and audio (though a proportion of these are faux-exclusive) , and for 'nobody', there are 1,277,988 ££ and above.
But: there is an overlap of 19764 files. ::)
And: I think some indie illos are above £.
But there are plenty of files with neither of these keywords, surely.
And, in FF, I couldn't tick all five file types, so when I got to flash, it didn't register the tick but began the search across the first four media. :o
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It's best to just avert your gaze because it's only going to get worse. The ethics of all these 'agencies' are in free fall. Originally, they thought they represented artists. Today, the model is the "Everything's A Dollar" chain.
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I would really like to meet the famous legally 'reasonable' person.
...
I realise that the phrase is carefully worded - it doesn't actually say that you will find only images which you can only get from iStock when you search, but that surely is a strong implication. In the UK's ASA that would be down to what a 'reasonable person' would infer.
So, where is s/he?
On the Clapham omnibus...Greer LJ, Hall v Brooklands Auto-Racing Club (1933) 1 KB 205: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_man_on_the_Clapham_omnibus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_man_on_the_Clapham_omnibus)
:D
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Guess a 'reasonable person' would only be called into action if iStock/Getty were taken to court over the issues involved.. perhaps it's just that in their judgement that's unlikely to happen.
Having said that.. ignoring any legal issues, customers tend to be reasonable people and tend not to appreciate companies trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
With this and many other things affecting customers and contributors, I reckon iStock would be best to just keep things as straightforward and honest as they can.