I believe the Blackfoot are farther West, close to the Rockies maybe.  Central Canada has a large native population - I believe this area is typically Salteaux & Assiniboine and a lot of Metis.  Winnipeg is a fairly large city with a lot of native culture so I'm pretty sure the small town kids from afar come to big cities like here or Regina on the prairies.

I'm surprized there are not more cross platform agencies like the Envato Marketplace.  I don't buy many photos so don't visit Photodune, but I buy Wordpress themes there and often wander over to Code Canyon or Graphic River for design elements - while using the same account.   They have very frustrating licenses though from a buyer's POV, and I haven't investigated for a couple years, but they didn't pay the greatest royalties. 

Unless you have a new model release... it can take a few days for a legalish person to check it out. 

Stepping back from my initial go-stuff-yourself attitude when I saw the words non-compensation (or similar)... I wonder if I having a difficult time seeing over the wreckage of the Getty Google + deal. 

When they say "beta test" do you suppose they are building a site, throwing some photos on it, having testers download, upload, buying credits, one time visa's, paypal, and so on.... actually trying to break/improve the thing before moving public.... while maybe signing something that states they will destroy the photos in the end?

Or is my first reaction the right one... ain't givin 'nottin away fo 'nottin.. 

Like many of you, I was an early adopter of DT.  At one time we were equals - then the royalties were adjusted so they come out earning more, but overall - my income was growing.

Through all these years I have never had one of my hissy fits over DT.  I believe in them.  I like them, Serban and Tangie and the real people running the show.  I have always rooted for them (if that is too English - cheered for, hope they do well).

In the meantime I have loudly quit IS, 123, Deposit Photos and just barely hanging onto FT by the skin of my teeth.  I was early adopters of them too but they are pretty clear about the level of respect for the owners of the 30 million plus units they flog as their own.

I'm pretty certain if DT had asked for help even two years ago I would have been proud to comply.   Maybe even if they hadn't thrown "confidential" and "no compensation" in the same missive.  Now I am jaded, bitter, angry with and distrustful of all the distributors (although I still hold DT and SS in quite high regard.) so I'm sorry DT, but you are a little too late with this ambiguous offer.

At one time we were 50/50 partners but now DT earns more than I.  It is simply outrageous for a company of it's size to ask for help.  When I am doing research and development, I don't go to vendors and manufactures and ask for parts for free.  I pay for all my own R&D.  Some of it flies some of it falters - that is why it is R&D.  It is mind blowing that they have gone so far from their origins and think that a digital file has no value.  Why is it different from a widget?  It costs to manufacture a photo just like it costs to manufacture a widget.  To make it worse, a widget goes into a door of a car or wherever and stays there... the word free associated with digital content leads one to feel... well lost forever/out there/abused.

If this was any other industry where they really really needed free widgets - they would have to offer the manufacturers a stake in the company.  But that's the last thing any of these agencies would want.  Shareholders that are also photographers.

They are not yet on my sh*t list, at least they didn't tell us after the fact. 

Don'tcha cringe when you see the word "cheap" on the front page?

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on May 16, 2014, 10:14

By default, all Fotolia content is opted in for sale at the Dollar Photo Club (DPC), but sales there do not count towards your Fotolia level. The contributor receives a subscription royalty (according to level) on each sale.

The part about "DPC sales not counting towards the Fotolia ranking level is not true.

One DPC sales counts like a regular sub sale at Fotolia (1/4).

It's really fantastic too.  You only need 36,000 sales on DPC to go from Silver to Gold! 

I haven't had a conversation with her myself, but I'm guessing Lisa feels betrayed by MSG.  That is exactly how I feel by Fotolia.  Betrayed, deceived, taken advantage of.  That's whey everyone is so jumpy about this topic.

How does one know they've got negative posts?  Are you actually supposed to go back and check if people like what you are saying? 

All families disagree at times.  Lisa knows we love her. I have popped in and out of this thread, I hope everyone has been respectful of my sistah. 

What are you earning on DPC?  I would like to hear from a couple higher ranking individuals.  Are you earning 40 cents per download?  I was under the understanding the everyone gets paid a quarter and cannisters don't matter.  Am I wrong?

DPC's response to a Kelbyone comment on facebook:

We'd like to clarify our intention with Dollar Photo Club. Dollar Photo Club payouts basically depend on the rank of the photographers. Payouts range from 25 cents to 40 cents, which is well in line with the market. Dollar Photo Club sales count towards for their ranking at Fotolia, on the same level as other Fotolia subscriptions. At Dollar Photo Club, contrary to standard subscriptions, unused downloads never expire. That is a very different model than standard subscriptions, where agencies get all the money from unused downloads. As a result, DollarPhotoClub is a subscription model where a higher percentage of money spent goes to the photographer. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] should you have any more queries! Thanks, Dinah

Don't the terms vary accordingly?  What if it was for a 1" space on page 600 of a textbook? 

Has anyone contacted the other agencies on our behalf?  This stupid DPC project really deserves their attention.  If Shutterstock and Dreamstime sent a non-slanderous letter to all contributors asking them to consider dropping out of this deal it would have a huge impact.

Would they let us talk about it on their forums?

A 25 cent payout is definitely in the same ballpark as a 38 cent payout.  (Yes, poor - how did we get here???)  But, it is not the payout that concerns me the most - it is the cost to the end user.  Perceived value.  A photo is only worth a buck - I buy photos for a buck therefore no photos are ever worth more than a buck again.  Okay, sure - some are not even worth than a buck - but most of the portfolios that I have had the privileged to view are very professional - and no, my 12 year old cannot make a rival portfolio on his iphone.

At SS, the customer is paying much much more.... he sees photos costing $249 for a quality subscription pack and most likely thinks about the $249 not the price of the individual photos.

Then there's this.  http://blog.melchersystem.com/2014/05/05/stock-photo-blindness/