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Messages - kuriouskat
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101
« on: September 28, 2023, 01:50 »
How do you know that anything has changed and that data has been erased? Do you mean a search of your own portfolio or a search of the whole collection?
102
« on: September 20, 2023, 02:19 »
Had this a few weeks ago. Also changed mine. Make sure you go via the site just in case
Agreed - I got the email last week, but changed via the site and not the link.
103
« on: September 18, 2023, 09:56 »
I can get an image on Canva and then spend 3 hours doing a template with it. Creates a lot of traffic, doesn't mean anyone gets extra sales. So that Canva has more traffic than Shutterstock does really not say much about how sucessfull it is for contributors comapare dto other agencies.
You can do the same on Shutterstock these days, but I appreciate your point about them being essentially different entities. My point is that earnings are suddenly dropping like a stone. I don't fully understand how pay is calculated for 'applies' and 'exports' but, looking at the exports for last month, and dividing the earnings I received by the number of times an image was exported, I earned 0.5c per image. When I started with them, I earned 35c per image. The company is valued at $46 billion, which is hardly surprising if they are giving away our assets for less than a cent.
104
« on: September 18, 2023, 05:47 »
Yes, Canva gets several times the web traffic of Shutterstock. 5x as much according to sites like "similarweb".
I am not sure whether web traffic is what you can compare to each other, because Shutterstock is only a microstock agency, while Canva is also a graphic design tool, so part of the traffic is not generated by customers buying images, but using the tools.
I know there are some people who say Canva was their best earner, but if you look at the poll, Canva does not even make it into the top 10 in terms of revenue. I know if you have the right graphics you can probably make a lot of money.
When I signed up with Canva, they told me that they would not accept my images on white background, but that I should make them transparent pngs, because these were the images that would get sold the most on Canva. So, for example, if you have a lot of transparent pngs you will probably do much better there than someone doing travel photos. That's why I think Canva is one of the top earners for some contributors, but not for most. It's just not your typical microstock agency.
I agree that it's not your typical agency, but the design tool drives traffic that requires images/graphics, and these are almost all licensed from the images available in the database. The tool has proved to be so successful, that Shutterstock and other agencies now have similar integrated tools, because the model works. I don't have any images on white and I've been with Canva since day one. At the beginning, you could submit such images and they had staff who were cutting them out from the background before publishing them. The reality was that such submission sat in the review queue for months on end, so it quickly became clear that you either needed to submit ready prepared png cutouts or not bother, (but I don't even think png submissions were even an option at the start). I had very few images on white, so I didn't bother to submit those, and just uploaded my standard stock images - a mixture of food and drink, backgrounds, travel, wildlife, and a very small collections of people and lifestyle. However, from an earnings point of view, I've always done pretty well, with Canva being somewhere in my top 4 each month since 2014 - they've never topped Shutterstock, but often beat Istock or Adobe, and were way higher than other mid-tear sites, such as Dreamstime, 123RF, Depositphotos, etc. Now my year to date earnings for this year are only 25% of the same period last year. That's a huge drop.
105
« on: September 17, 2023, 16:45 »
All these small agencies will eventually go out of business because greed and AI
Canva is a very long way from being a 'small agency'.
106
« on: September 12, 2023, 04:11 »
Dreadful numbers, and down to just above 20% of my monthly average in 2022. Is AI now just making us totally expendable, or is this just another example of corporate greed? All these companies got rich off the back of us, and now just throw us peanuts. Meanwhile, Melanie Perkins, co-founder of Canva is estimated to be worth $3.6 billion, and Canva has a value of $40 billion. https://www.forbes.com/profile/melanie-perkins/I have no issue with people getting rich from a good idea, and she and her co-founder have pledged a large chunk of their Canva share to charitable causes, which is commendable, but what about us?? Don't we deserve to be paid a living wage for our contribution? Don't we need help during a global economic crisis, or do we have to wait until we've bankrupted ourselves and become homeless to maybe get assistance from 'charitable causes'?
107
« on: September 01, 2023, 15:16 »
There is a notice on their website saying "They will cease operations on October 1st".
So I guess this clears up all your confusions..
Sad to see them go. We had a good ride while it lasted.
Yes, I'm sorry to see them go, but I'm grateful that they aren't just shutting up shop and leaving the contributors high and dry. Hopefully they will make final payments as promised. I have a feeling they won't be the only smaller site to close down.
108
« on: September 01, 2023, 02:42 »
Same for me. When I saw that the uploads weren't going through, and that the forum was down, I requested a payout. That came through within a couple of days, which was reassuring, but I got charged a fee, which I don't think has happened in the past.
I opened a support ticket regarding the upload problem several days ago, which is still unanswered.
109
« on: August 31, 2023, 13:47 »
You have submitted files that refer to famous artists, people, characters from popular culture, and/or other existing subjects such as video games in the image, title or keywords. We take intellectual property rights very seriously and your uploads are a violation of these rights and thus violate the upload guidelines.
I think you are making assumptions about misused keywords and filenames. I think you likely have a bigger problem with images such as these:
110
« on: August 30, 2023, 13:02 »
I had this rejection reason before AI times with photos of the Sacre Coeur in Paris.
Despite several attempts, always this reason for refusal. I had explained it to myself that the topic was simply saturated.
It's on Shutterstock's restricted list.
Sacr-Cr
Located in Paris, France
Interiors and exteriors are unacceptable for both commercial and editorial use
Thanks, but I don't quite understand that.
When I search on Shutterstock, I come up with 134 pages.
For 2023 also a few new editorials, but quite few.
Mine were removed, and I was notified of the policy change by email. I guess any that are still there will be taken down eventually.
111
« on: August 30, 2023, 06:13 »
I had this rejection reason before AI times with photos of the Sacre Coeur in Paris.
Despite several attempts, always this reason for refusal. I had explained it to myself that the topic was simply saturated.
It's on Shutterstock's restricted list. Sacr-Cr
Located in Paris, France
Interiors and exteriors are unacceptable for both commercial and editorial use
112
« on: August 25, 2023, 11:38 »
I was going to upload 1 non-AI photo now, but saw the new disclaimer that scared me and decided not to upload. I don't want to risk myself losing my monthly royalty just because of 1 photo Adobe Stock may think they see recognizable faces or trademark I don't see and am not aware of.
It's Adobe Stock's job to find recognizable faces or trademark/logo and reject photos/clips imo. And in the past, Adobe Stock and all other agencies just rejected those with model release/trademark issues, not ban you and close your account. If they say they'll close your account just because you uploaded photo/clip that contains recognizable face without model release or brand logo/trademark, I can't upload anymore. They got to clarify this. One strike and you lose your account with thousands of photos generating steady revenue?
I also saw this last night, and held off submitting one of the images I'd uploaded, (non-AI). Like you, I felt I couldn't take the risk. I submitted it to all my other sites, and the images has been approved commercially elsewhere, but there was a niggling voice in the back of my head that said I'm 99% sure this is OK for a commercial submission, but the 1% won out. In the past, I would have just uploaded and relied on the review to inform me of any potential problems.
113
« on: August 25, 2023, 03:47 »
I had a brief look at the portfolio on Dreamstime, and did come across a few 'Aperol spritz' images. I didn't know if 'Aperol' was the generic name of a type of drink, or a brand name. It turns out it is a brand name, but I had to look it up to check. The OP here has clearly made some mistakes, I'm sure we all have, but isn't the point of the review to filter out those mistakes? We've all had images rejected for missing a hidden logo, or using a brand name that we thought was a generic term, but those submissions weren't done with an intent to deceive, and I don't believe that accounts should be closed for honest and unintentional mistakes. That said, there are a few areas where potential problems, such as the Caddilac and the Aperol brand names, and the Caddilac design and logo are pretty obvious. However, from the Dreamstime portfolio, I'd also add 'grumpy cat, Pennywise from It and Freddy Kruger to that list, along with the house being raised by balloons from the film Up. There is also a vehicle that is very close in shape to a VW Beetle. Less close, but still sufficiently alike to draw comparison, there is Godzilla, (also keyworded as Godzilla), ET, and the Devil character from the film Legend. Is AI just being fed too much on film stills to mean that even generic prompts return potentially infringing images? https://www.dreamstime.com/evil-clown-doll-dirty-look-created-generative-ai-technology-evil-clown-doll-dirty-look-created-image276424759https://www.dreamstime.com/surreal-grumpy-cat-created-generative-ai-technology-surreal-grumpy-cat-created-generative-ai-technology-image283222237Don't get me wrong, I'm am sympathetic to the contributor concerned, as the degree of 'closeness' should be picked up during review and rejected accordingly, as it would be for non-AI submissions. But I'm also trying to look at this from Adobe's perspective, as we have a joint responsibility as contributors to not submit these problematic images in the first place. Mistakes can happen, and something that resembles a film can be glaringly obvious to some people, whilst others are totally oblivious, but to be oblivious to all of these iconic characters and subjects is unusual - Caddilac, Grumpy Cat, Pennywise, Freddy Kruger, VW Beetle, Godzilla? I'm sure all of us hope that this case is fully investigated and brought to the right conclusion, whatever that may be.
114
« on: August 23, 2023, 02:12 »
One more question
I logged to the stock sites to change my PayPal address, but when I tried to do that in pond 5 ,I got a massage that they need to send me a mail to answer it back for sec reasons ,that its me I am doing the change
Thing is I no longer have access to my hotmail account
What should I do ?! I dont wanna lose any money from sales from them
Recover your Hotmail account.
Or just write to each site and explain. There will be ways to verify ownership of the account and to attach a new email address.
115
« on: August 17, 2023, 01:59 »
"FLEX 10 Annual Subscription, Monthly. By signing up for a free trial of an annual subscription plan, you agree that Shutterstock will automatically charge the monthly subscription fee 29 to your payment method every month for 12 months until your subscription has expired, unless you cancel before the end of your free trial.By purchasing you agree to the Shutterstock License Agreement, or a separate written agreement in effect with Shutterstock."
The scam is in the wording. It's deliberately ambiguous. The bolded part makes it sound as if someone will be charged monthly, not the full annual price up front.
On the sign up page, for subscription packages, (as opposed to one off purchases), I get the option to select the following: Annual - billed monthly (Default option) Annual - billed upfront Monthly - no contract When selected, each option clearly states what I will be charged, and when. Are other people seeing something different to this?
116
« on: August 13, 2023, 04:45 »
Hmm, I look to be down a couple of hundred images as well.
It would be nice if Canva would tell us what is going on.
Would also be nice if they didn't continuously keep cutting out payments per sale by massive amounts just because they can.
With this latest move I am guessing they will either be putting the company up for sale soon, or they are doing away with us altogether (relying on AI or something). On some level they must know this is unsustainable.
When they literally put their money where their mouth was, and guaranteed increased earnings by doubling payouts for a period, I was very hopeful. A shame that promise was so short-lived. As one of the most valuable brands on the planet, it is sad to see that they reached this status by shafting us. Another example of corporate greed gone to far.
117
« on: August 12, 2023, 16:16 »
118
« on: August 12, 2023, 12:22 »
Hmm, I look to be down a couple of hundred images as well.
It would be nice if Canva would tell us what is going on.
119
« on: August 12, 2023, 10:47 »
Dreadful month for me too. Way down on the last few months, which were also poor.
I just checked back, and it's the lowest month since February 2014, (and I started there in January 2014).
It's about 15% of my monthly average for 2021-2022.
121
« on: August 10, 2023, 02:51 »
This one is apt, and says "Break the Rules". He clearly did.......
122
« on: August 08, 2023, 03:52 »
But they take ai images that are generated by their own ai generator. Look through the collection, there is a lot of ai content that is labelled as ai generated.
I guess the difference is it was done on their own engine which is trained on legally licensed content.
Except for all the stolen stuff on Shutterstock, which is a bit of a fly in the 'legally licensed' ointment. Still, I believe they make a guarantee to their customers, so they are obviously happy to take that risk.
123
« on: August 07, 2023, 13:52 »
see these two screenshots ⬇️
No reply even after many emails and 19 days ?? my account has not been activated even after proofs ?
i emailed them multiple times and with different E-mail address also. now they are not responding.
I think my account was deleted by Shutterstock on the first day without any valid reason. They are not responding, and it seems they cannot recover it. Do you consider this to be Shutterstock's fraud? What do you think?
what should i do now ?
Wait?
You've redacted the software you used from your screenshot, but if it's Midjourney, or other AI, then that's your problem.
that's not the problem,
they have deactivated my account due to copyright issue, that I have uploaded on adobe
It was just a thought, as Adobe take AI content, but Shutterstock won't take it because of copyright issues. If it's AI, then the removal of your account for copright reasons make sense.
I have uploaded on both since last 3 years when AI generation was not much popular, I upload as illustration and it is very difficult to tell if it is AI generated as it looks like illustration and edited completely, this is not the same as the image generated by Midjourney etc, thats the reason why my images approved,
even I never used ai geneted term in title on adobe, shutter, because it not completely ai generated
But if it's partially AI generated, then you can't submit it to Shutterstock due to their decision not to accept AI generated content. If you broke the rules then this will be why they closed your account.
124
« on: August 07, 2023, 07:45 »
see these two screenshots ⬇️
No reply even after many emails and 19 days ?? my account has not been activated even after proofs ?
i emailed them multiple times and with different E-mail address also. now they are not responding.
I think my account was deleted by Shutterstock on the first day without any valid reason. They are not responding, and it seems they cannot recover it. Do you consider this to be Shutterstock's fraud? What do you think?
what should i do now ?
Wait?
You've redacted the software you used from your screenshot, but if it's Midjourney, or other AI, then that's your problem.
that's not the problem,
they have deactivated my account due to copyright issue, that I have uploaded on adobe
It was just a thought, as Adobe take AI content, but Shutterstock won't take it because of copyright issues. If it's AI, then the removal of your account for copright reasons make sense.
125
« on: August 06, 2023, 13:13 »
My hunch is that the lower payout figure is to butter people up in preparation for an 'exciting' announcement, where they are going to lower the commission rates, again.
While that's a good point, I will remind everyone, especially those with the opinion that there's some hidden agenda. There's an obvious financial point. Money owed is a liability. SSTK can't use it or spend it, because it's being held as commissions. By lowering the debt, they will make their financials look better. The stock will possibly improve in value, because they just paid all the people who had money due, between $25 and $35. I can't imagine it being huge, but I don't know.
And then into the future, the debt will be lower from month to month, making their balance look better.
Sometimes it's not all about us or ways they are trying to bilk us.
ps I still have my payouts set to $100 because I like the nice round numbers, not some dribbles of low returns.
It may be a liability on the balance sheet, but it's also earning interest, which is not paid over to contributors and won't be inconsequential. However, you may well be right, as they are probably sitting on a large pot that can't be paid out to Russian contributors at the moment, so maybe this is a way of balancing that increase.
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