you yould definitely make more $$$ as an IS exclusive.

Maybe yes, but that would be unsustainable 
'Less' is the new 'more' at Istock.

And if one ignores the loss of sales (potential or real) at other agencies and takes into account the impending wallop to commission rates, can a bump in sales be expected after going exclusive?  In terms of $$$ and number of downloads (not that the number of downloads really matters if the $$$ are coming in).

So, my friend, you would like to earn more money at Istock?
You see, Istock management has a major problem with that...

I doesn't matter if you're exclusive or not. My advice is "do not count on Istock income in the future".
You want more income? Find ways to replace or complement Istock.

You can try optimizing the catalog.
If you have older backups you can try loading an older version of the catalog.
Maybe it got corrupted somehow.

very disappointing

Anybody else having a deja vu?

http://www.microstockgroup.com/new-sites-general/new-swiss-stock/25/

 

Austrian copyright law:

�Werke der Baukunst nach einem ausgef�hrten Bau oder andere Werke der bildenden K�nste nach Werkst�cken, die dazu angefertigt wurden, sich bleibend an einem �ffentlichen Ort zu befinden, zu vervielf�ltigen, zu verbreiten, durch optische Einrichtungen �ffentlich vorzuf�hren, durch Rundfunk zu senden und der �ffentlichkeit zur Verf�gung zu stellen; ausgenommen sind das Nachbauen von Werken der Baukunst, die Vervielf�ltigung eines Werkes der Malkunst oder der graphischen K�nste zur bleibenden Anbringung an einem Orte der genannten Art sowie die Vervielf�ltigung von Werken der Plastik durch die Plastik.�
    � � 54 Abs. 1 Z 5 UrhG (Source: German Wikipedia)

Basically, if a building or work of art is permanently in public space, you can create and distribute its images.
You cannot: build copies of buildings, create copies of paintings, etc.

As I understand it, a 2-dimensional image of a 3-dimensional work of art is not considered a copy, and therefore there is no copyright infringement. Creating an image of an image or a copy of a sculpture would be an infringement.

What did they use, some kind of beam splitter in the middle so both cameras "saw" the same thing?

I presume it is somehow aligned/merged in software, in a similar way that HDR software can align photo-exposures when the camera position slightly changed.

Yeah, hey everybody, i think the idea here is to try and get better terms from Istock.
[...]
Think before just doing stuff.

I don't think you fully comprehend what just happened. You want to negotiate better terms with con artists? Because that's what these parasites are.
Luring so many people into exclusivity and then screwing everybody with no mercy - that must be one of the greatest cons in the history of stock photography.

I don't think you should even hope that it will stop here, their goal is to squeeze as much as possible, this monster is insatiable. Unless they lose some ground I expect in 3-4 years it will be 5-10% for non-exclusives and 20% for exclusives. The show has just begun.
What's even more dangerous, they have a history of acquisitions. I'm pretty convinced they are planning to buy other microstock agencies until they can shape the whole stock market the way they wish. That's why they need cash, loads of cash. If they succeed you will have to be happy with the crumbs they will throw you.

What can we do to protect our incomes? Basically it comes down to cause them to gradually lose their market share.

1. Short term goal: make a stink around them, kick and bite, draw the buyers away from them.
Sure, they are big but there are very many of us. So it is like the fight of Liliputians against Gulliver. It can get very, very unpleasant for them.

2. Mid-term goal: find a way to strenghten the market share of the weaker but fair agencies. We need 10-15 agencies that are more or less equally strong that would compete for contributors.
I don't know how to achieve this, but only 4 top agencies is a potentially dangerous situation. Getty can buy SS, DT, FT at any time and then it's Game Over for pretty much everyone.

3. Long-term goal: come up with a new, decentralised distribution model to replace or complement microstock. This has been discussed before. I believe this is possible but it it is a topic for another thread. There are very many clever people among contributors, I hope that we will invent something better.

I know it hurts if you're exclusive Paulie, but in 2012 you can consider yourself very lucky or succesful if you keep your current roaylty rate. The show has just begun. They have set up a hamster wheel for you and us, can't you see it?
I have always thought going exclusive was reckless and a bad business decision because I was afraid eventually something like this could happen. I hate to be right this time and I really don't like the idea of former exclusives flooding SS,DT etc. with their images...

My commissions for ELs on IS:
    
$39.90
$36.65
$28.82
$27.67

A dollar? Hard to believe.

Yes, a couple of days ago I uploaded one clip and it never appeared online, simply gone... The upload took almost 2 hours...
I tried again later and then it worked.

But I don't think it can happen to USA. States are too powerful.

Empires never last, they always crumble and fall...

hello donding,
yes, they are negotiating with their client. They will certainly take their commission, but I trust them. If it works out they deserve a commission.
They have a good reputation and have always been fair to me.
No feedback yet though if the customer likes the alternative picture. Maybe they didn't expect that the first one had sold so often.
 

I have been contacted by a local midstock agency, one of their customers would like to use my photo in their trademark.
The product will be a new German beer.

I informed them that the photo they would like to use had sold almost 300 times. If it is no longer interesting to them, I have created an alternative picture, a montage with the same landmarks and a similar mood. The alternative photo has been forwarded by the agency to their client.

The question is how much should I request for the use of a photo in trademark and exlusive rights?
I'm a hobbyist and have no experience with such requests.
Your comments will be greatly appreciated.