This author gives a personal take on this issue.
http://thedambook.com/getty-did-what
I wonder if his images are embedded under this scheme?
I clicked on the images and they took me to Getty.
I right-clicked on the minibus pic, and it allowed me to save it out, and when copied into Photoshop, there is no copyright notice, contact information or any other metadata.
If they're hoping to catch people out by entrapment, they clearly haven't studied a wide enough range of European national laws.

This is an excellent analysis, best article I have seen so far.

It has a lot of information, please read it carefully and draw your own conclusions on what your future will bring.

They are not including the best Getty collections - Digital vision isn�t in there, neither is culture or images from outside providers like Blendimages. And of course no RM.

But Photodisc, photographers choice, all the Vetta content and S+, all the illustration from istock - just help yourself to illustrate your  news site, magazine etc...And of course if you can get someone to write a blog about your business, but the blog is not formally hosted by your business,just flanked by ads...then you can use them too.

On istock someome wrote this affects only files on getty. So Vetta and e+ will be included but the indepedents will be spared?

Is that true?

istock had a project with a blogsite called vox. Files could be embedded for free and they all had links to our portfolios and individual files.

I saw no increase in sales, not even views and I think neither did istock. The project was cancelled.

But of course there was no advertising being flashed at the end user through the images.

Maybe if istock had done that, istock would have had advertising revenue. But in those days istock was in the business of selling files,not using their content to rent it out at end users and avoid paying the artist.

As an artist you anyway have to be lucky to get your files "viewed" to even have a chance of making a sale. Are your files interesting enough to stand out in the 35 million files to be chosen to be viewed?

But for the advertising revenue again it does�t matter. They just need a platform with a critical size of users (here: embedded viewers)  to get the advertisers to pay them.

I think this might be the easiest way to get an idea how vulnerable you are. Get some stats on how you find your files being used and then see in how many cases you could have been replaced by the viewer.

The announcement will certainly lead many people to believe that "everything on getty is now free".

Maybe this will help push the viewer around. Or maybe it will just be a short lived internet hype.

How fast will the getty lawyers sue people who use the viewer in the wrong place? And after a few people get sued, how many people will continue using the viewer?

And will anyone ever be sued? Because if the real money is supposed to come from advertising, why would they care if it is placed on a commercial website?

Many questions...

But the artists have to decide if they want to take part and spread the viewer.

This is a very big project if they really want to be successful with it. I would look carefully at their track record in technology, sales and growing a business to decide if I should be scared or not.

The more immediate problem is the introduction of subscriptions on everything on istock except Vetta. I would be more scared of that if I was still exclusive.

The blogger has the choice between grabbing a file from google, or a free creative commons license or installing a viewer. What do you think is faster to do? There are millions of free images available already that are legal to use. Even for commercial purposes.

You are talking about the huge volume of people going after freebies.

They usually don�t spend money anyway. Getting people who love free to even just pay 1 cent for anything is incredibly difficult. Terrible conversion rate.

I don�t see these people as my market.

The commercial users,even the small business need to pay. And Getty says themselves they don�t believe it will change their core business.

For me this talk about "preventing copyright infringing" is the pitch line to get the artists to comply and help spread the viewer.

Then the real money will come for Getty when they make deals with the advertisers. But they have to build the platform first and need critical mass to make it interesting.

Building a platform can take a lot of time. Let�s see if it works first.

But they might not even need it to really work if they are going after the money of investors. Then they just need a plausible looking story where the "real money" comes in a very distant future.

Whatever is their real motive, I think for me it will be better to keep special files elsewhere. But I have content for the viewer. Sure. No problem.

It will only affect everyone if it really becomes widely used and thus a "platform".

Until then it is cool buzzwords that will drive lots of "innovative" articles.

Which is why they are revamping the advertising toolkit for the artists, hoping we will help to widely advertise the use of the viewer.

A real platform needs huge volume. iTunes,ebay or youtube size.

Which is why they say they are open to inviting other agencies....


Even if the concept really did catch on - what is to stop SS to come up with their own version? And who has more experience in creating reliable internet technology and growing an internet business...?

I do believe it has potential to kill sales if a file really becomes popular. Why buy something you can rent for free if renting is made easy?

Getty will still benefit from the advertising revenue, while my poor file is "viewed"

If anything the project has  a lot of potential to drive people with quality content to stocksy, Offset, RM sites or to work on their direct sales shops.

True, this involves the use of reliable technology...hm...no, they have no track record in that. So the amazing masterplan will probably fold onto itself anyway.

Back to shoot, upload, repeat and all the other agencies that are in the business of selling my files, not renting them out for free and then charging advertisers for the "service".

The talk about the copyright infringers is probably the buzzline to get people to help them build the platform. Especially to get the artists to help them build a platform that will in the end probably not pay them.

I mean, what other argument could they use to make people look forward to this?? 

But it might be enough to get wall street investors excited and spend millions of other peoples money...I mean..it does sound all internety and cool...

The content will not be free. It will be paid for by the advertisers. But to Getty, not the artists.

They are just building the platform and hope many people use the player.

It is another step towards trying to "automate" dealing with stock. Mass uploads, mass distribution of images and then monetising it in individual deals with the advertisers in private that the artists never see.

It sounds like they are trying to monetise our content like youtube does. Our images will illustrate the blog article or newspaper,but we no longer get properly paid. Just the "hope" someone uses the link to go to the website to buy the content.

They are renting out the content for free and making THEIR money in other ways while we live on hope??

Is this the new "getty connect"?

they really must think the stock artists are like the people who upload to flickr or youtube.

Who will invest in production for having their images rented out for free?

ETA. the poor istock exclusives. No opt out from the new subscription program. No opt out from the "viewer".

I�ll have to look at my content again. Getting low subs royalties is one thing. Being used by a magazine for free is something else.

http://www.bjp-online.com/2014/03/getty-images-makes-35-million-images-free-in-fight-against-copyright-infringement/

I am trying to imagine Sony music offering a free online stream for half their music library or disney most of their videos.

I know some TV stations offer select content for free or with advertising, but I have a difficult time seeing it work with photos in the same way.

Or do you think this will have no effect on our sales??

And of course...there is no opt out.

So they can definitely afford to give us a raise

That is not what I am trying to do. I am interested in all agencies, but istock and SS are the biggest.

What happens there concerns most of the community.

And looking for a raise when it seem to be a good opportunity - what�s wrong with that?