Interesting quote from the Istock forums:

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Posted By PaulCowan:
I think I will delete at least one useless old file on the 2nd, just in case anybody is watching the numbers to see how many contributors are annoyed enough to make some minor gesture of protest.

(Edited on 2013-01-29 04:25:50 by PaulCowan)


Posted By Lobo:
Paul, we are watching everything.

What a good thought!!  If enough people do at least that much delete, the message will be stronger .. although what may hurt them most will be the long term implications .. at first there's D-Day and all the noise around that - and then, it probably stands to reason that many contributors participating in D-Day will not place new content in future, thus gradually weakening the solid contributor base that exists for them.  However much they replace, the dice is still going to fall in favor of their top business rivals who will receive more content from many of their seasoned (ex-) contributors.

So "watching" may not be enough  - much better if they could understand - comprehend - and act in a way that restores back the widespread loss in confidence.

Should one choose option to place watermark or not on the FAA site?  Any recommendations...  They say it can limit sales of file but I saw some works there with the fineart logo on a corner, so dont know which is better to do.

Haven't you heard ...

https://twitter.com/sdeva/status/295157221350846464

Tweet this morning..

https://twitter.com/sdeva/status/295157221350846464

Got a 0.08 sale today  these always make me feel insulated in a deep and profound way...

Things are hotting up all around and there's a week to go for 02 Feb.  My fingers are itching to reach for that deactivate button already to take down a chunk of my port.  With 3 clicks per image x 300 images that I plan, it will be a busy day since I couldn't figure out the short way to do it. 

This deal is reverberating everywhere.. just saw this on a German site.  Perhaps some German speakers maybe interested ...

http://macrostock.blogspot.se/2013/01/der-getty-google-deal-und-die.html

Great analysis  .. and the keeping the food on the family table is so relevant.  No argument whatsoever.  Only thing that bothers (me, at least) is that more activities to move legit, copyright works into the, shall we say, free zone of things, would perhaps take the family table away too, over time.  If today it�s a few thousand images � what can tomorrow bring?  Could our �little� effort potentially make a statement, and deter other similar actions, by anyone, to remove copyright info from images (if that was done), and place them into free zone of things?  Seems unfortunate if something like this happened without prior knowledge/ consent of copyright owners, and got �discovered� almost post facto.

No offence - fully confess that I haven�t been around in this particular business long enough � but think that if so many of us feel so strongly about something perhaps we should make our viewpoint known loud as we can.  Just my 2c.

Please add my 300 that will definately come down 02 Feb - if I take down any more I'll update here, thanks 

Sorry forgot to mention .. the ones coming down will include some good sellers either for sensitivity reasons or to reduce risk of them going as freebies.

Very interesting article at a time when so many upset iStockphoto contributors are planning D-Day on 02 Feb. Please read it if you haven't already.

https://twitter.com/sdeva/status/294032512114626561

Its great that some of us find merit in this line of thought.  The Deactivation Day planned for 2nd February is a good example of how we can come together as a community.  Some supportive response is also coming in from Buyers on the posts, and that�s a truly energizing signal. Lets hope this initiative has an impact so that, one hopes, normalcy can get restored in a fair and positive way for all concerned. 

We all have twitter, facebook, g+ etc.,  but also our own websites in many cases.

Are we mobilizing the social media well within permissible rules and norms?  Is each one of us posting a message or two everyday - so that the noise is louder and louder, and more contributors and more buyers and more everybody hears about 2nd Feb?  One cannot underestimate the power of social media in raising awareness!

Going back to this post, fully agree with many of the excellent points made. As Racephoto says it doesn�t really matter what we call ourselves as a unified community.  Although, perhaps union is not an applicable word � as it implies an employer- employee relationship, which is not applicable in our case.  But association is as good a word as any.  I strongly think the core idea is sound � is free of geographic constraints (we live in a global economy today) � and there are plenty of good examples of similar associations making very positive contributions in very many fields of business and activity.

After all the idea is not to give the agencies a hard time � far from it � and Lord forbid!  We share a common goal of enhancing the business.  What an association of this nature should want, in my opinion, is to ensure that we have improved participation in a business in which we are engaged.  And interests on each side are better represented and protected.

Operational modalities would work themselves out if we could get to the point of having an association.  Its really a no-brainer that an association representing even a few hundred or thousand members and perhaps a million or more (someday) images, would have more say in the business than any of us, individually, with our far smaller ports. 

Another post that I saw this fine morning 

http://semmickphoto.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/photographers-and-getty-go-head-to-head-in-google-drive-deal/