Quote from: cmannphoto on February 14, 2013, 16:27

If I remember correctly they changed the ASA back in August of 2011, which Sean was even questioning the "Distribution Partners" back then

Quote

I do not want my content sold on any site where I do not receive the royalty for my brand that I have established here on iStockphoto. I don't trust outside "partners" or distribution channels, and I do not wish the value (to me) of my content being diluted by having my share of my royalties split a dozen times before it gets to me.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=333754

Also, the $12 is the contributors share of the deal.

Thanks for posting that.

How do we know the $12 is a 'share' and not a payment for the rights without seeing the contract or the 'special licence' or even the terms on Google Drive?

So we have the new ASA agreement that deemed iStock a distributor rather than an agent (or both) on Aug 29 and we have  Google asking it's users to curate the collection for Google Drive on Aug 9. 

https://plus.google.com/+GoogleDrive/posts/6p2e3FTeKL4

Interesting.

First be careful of the years, the ASA change was in 2011 and the Google Drive link you posted was in 2012.

The $12 "royalty" was discussed by several people in the two threads started by "mr_erin"

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=350491

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=350613

ETA: from the original Google Drive thread on page 11
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=350439&page=11

So now they are back to being our agent

The ASA still says distributor at the beginning of section 3

Grant of Authority

    The Supplier hereby appoints iStockphoto as Supplier's exclusive distributor to sell, license or sublicense Exclusive Content to third parties worldwide and to collect and remit funds in connection with those endeavours on the terms set forth in this Agreement. For all Exclusive Content, Supplier grants iStockphoto:

http://www.istockphoto.com/asa_exclusive.php

And the same for non-exclusive
http://www.istockphoto.com/asa_non_exclusive.php

Did I miss something? Here, Lobo indicates there's going to be an announcement of sorts about what's going on, but I haven't seen it. Is it hiding somewhere I haven't looked or just forgotten about?

"I will have something prepared shortly on the developments of today. "   http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=351357&messageid=6841513

From his other posts it seems he walked away from making any comment other than they do not discuss these issues,

...We've never discussed terminations. Regardless of who the contributor is. I know there are a lot of conspiracies out there. It's much more complicated than it seems.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=65435&messageid=6841819

A classic, Do as we say, NOT as we do.

This is them the Minilypse Sticky

Here are the Golden Rules of a Minilypse:

1) Any images created during the event must be distributed exclusively by iStockphoto.
2) The Host/ Organizer is in constant contact with HQ
3) Have fun

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=339193&page=1

Yep, I get to join the club ...

You are the LAST person to be in this group, I thought.... times have changed

Good luck.

Lobo added this

We've made attempts to contact the gentleman involved in the site to let him know that the information wasn't this issue. We hope to hear back from them as soon as they are able so this is clearly understood.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=350613&messageid=6828201

Even About.com has responded to comments to their article
"Thousands of Free Stock Images Added to Google Docs"

http://office.about.com/b/2012/12/11/thousands-of-free-stock-images-added-to-google-docs.htm

Thank you for your posts regarding Google�s offering of new images. It sounds like the artists, Getty Images, and Google may have a few things to sort out. I have posted an update to this blog to give any new readers that heads-up. This is an important issue and I appreciate you taking time to signal this to our community.

Snufkin, with an approval rating around 10%, plus Congress cannot get anything done as it is, I would have more faith in asking Getty directly. IMO.

There is this but it has not been updated in a while

http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/new-statistics-istockphoto/

Another option, is Gary Elsner

http://www.garyelsner.com/

I have used Gary Elsner to help me with several Copyright Infringement cases over the years. I know he has handled numerous big cases (over 300) over the years.

http://www.garyelsner.com/

Just a thought

Quote from: alexmk on January 10, 2013, 20:33

More info on this deal

"The free stock photos found on Google Drive are a crowd sourcing initiative instigated by Google. Over 6 months ago, Google posted on their blog that they wanted Google Drive users to send in their favorite photos from Thinkstock. The Google community of users saw photo contributions as an opportunity and donated their own photos to the free stock photo option. The result is over 5,000 free photos on Google Drive for you use. How magical is that. IN a review of the quality of the free stock photos found on Google Drive, it seems the selection process from contributing photographers must have been rigorous, as the photos are great!"

I'm flattered 1 out of 5000 images is mine   Tks a lot Istock. How magical is that?

You need to provide a link to the source of what you've quoted. Who is it by and from where?

Same as the link above
http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/08/09/google-wants-you-to-help-stock-its-google-drive-stock-images-library/