Quote from: Morphart on November 11, 2011, 20:15

Quote from: grp_photo on November 11, 2011, 08:50

Corbis gets about 25% from FT. Photographer gets 20% from what Corbis got = 5% from the saleprice.

Wow I have to ask... is it really worth it? Photographer gets runned over by this, I thought agencies like Corbis gave more importance to their photographers than that.

Anyways it's their business, I guess I just learned something, they are all playing in the same field.... and we are the balls

For RM (and I have only RM so far with them) you get 37.5% (with the new contract before it was 40%) and they don't sell their RM-stuff through other agencies. I had last month a sale with them that netted me 1600,- Euros (my share) so yes it's worth with them.

Yes for RM as in other Stock sites is worth it as it includes limitations for the buyers, but on this thread I am referring to RF images (26k of them) which are sold to other stock websites (such as fotolia), marked as Corbis as the Other (no copyright information of the Photographer), as for revenue to photographers... who knows... Fotolia pays Corbis... No clue if Corbis does his part back.

I don't know if I missed something but the watermark is from iStock...

123RF usually responds to things like that but they don't have much more leverage either unless they hired an attorney in the jurisdiction of the copyright infringement.

Yes you must have missed the original thread creator claim Which is asking what to do and show a 123RF watermark. Was in reference to this didn't read the full thread up to the end

I've found one of my photos on this page http://desmotivaciones.es/2742321/Quien-nunca-lo-haya-deseado
Obviously it's been stolen: I've sent them an e-mail but they've ignored me, so what should I do now?

Corbis gets about 25% from FT. Photographer gets 20% from what Corbis got = 5% from the saleprice.

Wow I have to ask... is it really worth it? Photographer gets runned over by this, I thought agencies like Corbis gave more importance to their photographers than that.

Anyways it's their business, I guess I just learned something, they are all playing in the same field.... and we are the balls

Searching an image for a client, I just noticed something I find peculiar.

Corbis images are marketing images sent by the photographer they represent on OTHER websites... such as Fotolia?
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/royalty-free/42-18083490/nurse-listening-to-patients-heartbeat]
[url]http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/royalty-free/42-18083490/nurse-listening-to-patients-heartbeat[/url]

Username Corbis:
http://www.fotolia.com/id/12864433
http://www.visualphotos.com/image/2x3380056/nurse_listening_to_patients_heartbeat

Maybe nothing out of the ordinary, but to me I found it funny to see a Stock company selling off image to other ''competitor's'' Microstock busines... unless Corbis owns Fotolia and I do not know it?

Congratulations  !

Hehe thanks, it's been since january that i'm with them... but I am still missing 19 cents to clear, sometimes it takes a really long time to clear

Yes! Sign me up for my 7-day Free Trial Subscription with 5 images per day absolutely free!

I just discovered this on deposit photos... And now I understand why we get some many ''subscription'' sales... Hope they don't continue this indefinitely. My main job is have a graphic design company. Reading this, i'd say... Hell why go to istock, shutterstock, fotolia or any other to buy my images? When I have a need, I just need to go there, create an account, (fake or not) and download for 7 days... When it expires, we'll i'll just create another account...

(Mind I will not do it out of respect), but this won't stop others. At least we do get some small contribution for this but... I find it's a weird way to promote a site. Give hamburgers for free and you'll have 200 buyers a day... Charge 1.00$ and you'll be left with 25 buyers who are unhappy about paying 1.00$ since they got used to free

I saw this and my initial impression was "cool - I want to make a new catalog for each model I have so I can promote them in every situation that i've photographed them in"...and then I realized I'm limited to 5 options.  I need to figure out how to best optimize the opportunity - I think some thinking is required over the weekend.

You are limited to 5? I don't think so I think you can ''promote'' any number of catalog, but you are only limited to 5 in viewing the earning in your Dashboard?

Rinder wins longest post of the year award, and at one time I thought I was in the running. No way, it's the winner, hands down.  

Here's the way it is, I now collect Social Security, I own a small distribution business (industrial), I work weekends at the race track(s), I also shoot racing for magazines/websites, (travel eats up any profits, but I enjoy it) which gets uploaded to Alamy when I get off my lazy butt, and last I dabble in Microstock.

That's current in order of income. Try that again, potentially six income sources and Micro is the last, but I do it, because I like it! I stop the car and shoot pictures of things because I LIKE IT, not because I may ever sell or even upload the shots. They might get to my backup drive, and so far this year I may have printed 3-6 shots. Yes some end up on Alamy, especially racing, some end up on Micro, food and fun things, but the income from selling photos is less than I'd make working at an hourly day job. And oh by the way, I'm quite happy with that.

Only thing I have in common with Rinder and a few others here, is I used to teach photojournalism as an assistant and ran the lab/darkroom. I have more experience and background in how things work, than art training. (isn't that obvious after all these years)

I don't need to be anonymous, the agencies do a fine job and when they screw up, I don't feel like living in fear of retaliation. How's that for a job when you are under their thumb and in fear or reprisals. If people here are feeling abused, it's like a bad marriage, get out, don't keep coming back for more abuse. If not, they STFU, no one is forcing you to sell on Micro or take the crap that some agencies hand out. If people have to be anonymous to speak their mind, then there's something wrong with those agencies. Get away and don't live in fear of their abuse or threats. (I'm talking about people who imagine that some agencies come and read and take names and watch what we write, seems this is just the one that has warned us and actually does it.)

Last Sunday I saw this on the way home:



Non- seller, NCV, (that's not low, it's NO   ) so what? Should I have not taken the 18 shots used to make the composite or spent the hour to edit it. It's huge by the way at full resolution. Life isn't always about Commercial Value, sometimes it's about looking at a pretty field of corn at Sunset? Yes? No? I mean most everyone here has a good eye and talent and see things as beautiful. So why does it have to come down to staged and stilted, only in it for the money, 100% of the time?

If it's only about making money, for most people, go do something else. Micro isn't what it used to be and it's not going to be what it once was. Stop waiting for the second coming of MicroStock, it's history now. What you see is what you get. Micro Payment Stock. Was there any false advertising or deception when it was introduced as that in the first place?

Remember the top 5% of the world's Microstock shooters are here! OK considering the income numbers and attitudes, what does that tell you? It's a long uphill battle and even the best have to work very hard to make a decent income. Someone new should step back and see, this is not easy money. Yes it's possible, but at this stage of the game, collections are full, competition is experienced hungry and fierce, building a collection for two years might be building a collection for four years because of the way the market has changed?

Hey look, 56% of the people here, who are advanced and skilled and living/working Microstock say, NO! and I think that's a hint that it's good advise!

I agree with you, you need to be passionate and have a love for the work. Money comes after.

This can be said about any kind of work. If you get up in the morning and WANT to get to work, because you like it, then your life will be easier than if every morning you NEED (or Feel that you need) to go to work because it pays well

I would say grow into it organically, if you find it is paying enough to cover your costs then make the switch if you want to. At that point you don't need advice, you know what your figures tell you. Just be sure to understand you will probably have to diversify into something else further down the line. Everything is constantly changing and you have to be ready the change, too.

I like that comment . For me it's worth the try. Get your sleeves up and start working on it a few months. See how much you can produce, and evaluate the results by sending your images to the main stock agencies. After a hunder or two you will be able to get a prorata (average) of how much you can make per image, per month (giving a % margin of better and lesser months). Then you will know about how many images you would need to sustain you. I think submitting images to as many different subjects and categories as possible will give you a wider range of clients for your images.

I am an exception in stock as after 10 months I managed to grow a sizable portfolio and I would be able to stop working and live entirely on stock (but low entirely on stock but would be possible). This is not due to talent but a business opportunity I saw and worked well in stock, which in turn gives me more time to create illustrations and learn more photography.

I think every dream is achievable if you are passionate enough about and are not scared to spend the hours... Hours... building toward it. Being passionate helps not counting the hours

Good luck!

Quote from: oboy on September 09, 2011, 08:11

Why don't they just close down the site if that would be the case?

Good question. I just had a look at their whois info. and the domain expires Jul 2012, lasted updated Jun 2011. So maybe they do intend to continue, but their complete silence is strange to say the least.

At 10$ to renew a domain name for 1 year I am not sure it is a clear indicator that they would want to continue.

No chance even if I fix CA?
2 of my other pics are already approved.I only need to upload 1.

Yes out of focus you clearly cannot do anything about it except take the picture again

Quote from: Ed on September 30, 2011, 10:36

  There's a TON of negativity here and elsewhere (which has me scratching my head as to why people keep doing this but that's a different topic).

Not surprising. Anonymity allows posters to vent and rant about perceived injustices. Not many go to forums to sing praises or brag about how well they are doing.

Actually I am doing REALLY well!!!

But that would be seen as bragging... Seems like forums are for Venters and Braggers lol!

Hey some of us (speaking of illustrators more than photographers) are alone in a dark basement getting grilled by a PC monitor... We need to socialize somewhere