Soon after I criticized IS in a forum post, they decided that they didn't want any more of my work, and they sent an email to me telling me just that.  I probably would have stopped uploading to them anyway.  They didn't delete the material that I had, though.  It continues to sell, and I'll make payout about every three months.

WOW! 
Any more details on that. They really stopped accepting uploads from you for a forum post?

Thanks ED. My agent flaked out and I am looking for a good policy. I will head down your road to H&U

When shooting on public land like state parks and beaches, do you purchase usage permits and the required insurance? And let's say you have a model on location and he/she gets injured. Are you liable? Do  you do anything to waive your liability?

Thanks
OX

I'd agree with Sean. They have removed most of the original exclusive perks minus higher commissions. If they drop that to 20% flat rate i can't see how it would make financial sense for me, or anyone else, to stay exclusive.  

I'm guessing they will try to drop it to something not totally rock bottom but close, like 25%, for exclusives along with pitching the advantages of being a collection on the Getty site.

And since Getty is all exclusive content I can't see them wanting to put non-exclusive content there. It would seem to make sense that independent stuff would go to Thinkstock and Photos or some other offering they came up with.  

Plus I'm guessing they will tighten up collections and shuffle images around based on what they feel an image's, or contributor's, perceived value is. Some GI people may find their stuff moved to micro-pricing, some micro stuff may get moved to macro pricing, and some images and people may get pushed out the door.

2012 will be an interesting year.

Agree completely.

- raise my standards and overall quality of work
- upload more
- simplify life
- eat, sleep and exercise better
- be happy

OX

Well, 2011 is about over and now would be a good time to make some predictions about iStockPhoto for the next year - 2012.

Here are mine:

- IS will become Exclusives ONLY. Independents will no longer be allowed to upload.
- Most low selling Independent's files will be moved to Getty's middle Tier sites
- 20% commission for everyone (everyone meaning all the exclusives remaining)
- Discontinue tiered commissions based on credits sold
- Many low selling Exclusive files will be moved to Getty's middle tier sites
- Prices may rise a little to test the reaction
- Getty will try to position IS as (what I call) a "tweener" site with higher quality images at a higher price point. Images that you cannot find elsewhere (hence exclusive only).
- The techno bug issues will force Getty to build a completely new site causing significant migration issues, and a nightmare of lost commissions and file status. There may be class action law suits as well.
- By second quarter 2012 the site will be healthy and working well. A new programming maintenance team (hopefully from the banking industry) will be hired to ensure smooth running.
- Anger among contributors will reach a boiling point and Getty will attempt to appease them with unsuccessful PR promotions.

I just logged in and the Downloads is still showing 1/11/2011. Nice work 

I hate my 24/70. The CA drives me nuts in post processing. Anyone wanna buy it.?? My 100 mm prime  with IS is my getter done right lens. It just rocks for macro or portrait. That 24/105 sounds good.  Hopefully the CA is not as bad. Would appreciate opinions. 

Does anyone know if IS assigns value ratings to individual contributors other than what comes with Exclusive status (which may just be an image rating).

For instance, if someone is selling many images and maxing out their uploads, will the system assign that contributor preferential algorithms in regards to file placement, faster inspections, foot massage etc?

Or are all contributors treated the same according to status?

Getty is a business with a major investor, Hellman and Friedman seeking high dividends for the $2.4 billion they paid. It's NOT the feel good, photo love-in it started out to be.  Sure it sucks for no-exclusives. But 80% of the stuff on iStock is crap and it buries the "cherries". With over 10 million images it creates a search nightmare to find quality files. Then buyers head to other sites to find them and Getty wants to prevent that.

iStock is their microstock golden-boy and they paid a lot for it and they want to clean out the dead wood by sending it off to their loser sites in "siberia".(which they also paid a lot for and the ROI sucks). That starts with the non-exclusives. And frankly, its a good idea and smart business decision. And totally expected.

I know you non-exclusives are pissed and you should be. You are getting F-ed again. How many ways does IS need to tell you  to piss off? Their business model does not include you. They envision iStock as a premier microstock source with QUALITY exclusive files at a slightly higher price point. They don't want to be just a duplicate of all the companies they just acquired or compete with the low-ball sites.

It's all about building a better and mature product, enhancing the brand, positioning against the competition, appropriating and dispersing assets to improve sales and maximizing profit. And its ALL ABOUT MONEY. Get over it.

Positive for IS:
- my income increases about 35% each month
- my approvals are about 85% (could be higher but I've been pushing their limits)
- most images get approved in three days.

I have been at other sites but the subscription thing is a joke. Well for me.

I am OK with iStock (gasp) Now, who wants some cheese and crackers?

IS is no longer accepting any Apple products. Guess Jobs and Company made a phone call...
The images submitted did not contain any logos.

__________

We regret to inform you that we cannot accept your submission, entitled Computer keyboard testimonial  for addition to the iStockphoto library for the following reasons:

++ We do no longer accept product shots of Apple Macintosh.

This file includes content that may be subject to copyright or trademark protection. Certain use of this file creates risk of copyright/trademark infringement and we regret that it cannot be accepted, unless this content is removed from the file.

Folks, ElenaVizerskaya deserves her own thread and is worthy of your comments. So I started one for you to post in if you want.

Please don't hijack this thread discussing her.  

Thanks
OX