Until buyers and contributors get together and start their own site that they control...

Ironic, isn't it - because that's what we thought the web was going to do in the first place - let sellers find buyers, anywhere in the world.  The 'flat' economy.  Instead it turned into a channel controlled by a just couple of middlemen who are taking the lion's share of the money on every transaction. 

Current web technology isn't sophisticated enough.  As an individual seller, I need 3 things:

1.  A way for buyers to find my product; and today's thoroughly corrupted, endlessly 'gamed' Google search isn't it.

2.  Independent quality assurance - a 3rd party looks at my file at 100% and gives it a digital stamp of approval.  And really, how much QA do we need?  Other than noise, a 900px watermarked preview tells the story. 

3.   Secure, automated transaction processing - including delivery of the image file.  This already exists in some form.

We need these things available right on the web - not by installing some big, complicated, buggy, unsupported, dead-ended "open source" fantasy app. 

In contrast to Tror's post, I shop on a monthly basis for images for a couple of publications I design, and have not had any problems finding suitable, quality images. I am not disputing Tror's post at all, I think it might just depend on the subjects needed. I certainly can see where Tror's experience will likely become common for everyone at some point, considering how little the micros are now willing to pay for high quality photography. I can totally understand good photographers wanting to only sell on macro sites to recoup their money.

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Microstock is basically a giant "dollar store" and those stores are mostly full of products made to sell at that price.

I understand and agree with your sentiment, but I dont think things are that dire quite yet. Do a search for technology, for instance, on 123rf or shutterstock (a subject I surf and buy often) and you will see lots of good images, especially if you sort by popularity.

I think I recall that when the Dollar Store chains were new, they had a lot of 'bargains' that looked like actual closeout or surplus merchandise.  Over time I'm seeing less and less of that, and more cheap junk that would obviously never show up anywhere else, at least not in the U.S.  I've read that that same thing is true about "outlet" stores - initially they sold the real deal, but over time many of those big-name manufacturers started up second-string lines of lower quality, made specifically to sell in outlet channels.  It didn't happen all at once, but I'm confident the same thing is happening at the microstocks.   How could it be otherwise?

Well, I just found out why my sales were down slightly for the month of July.

Found an infringer with over 100 pieces of my work on SS. It was some of his best sellers too. This guy literally took my work, changed some colors and re-uploaded them. Just unbelievable. Who'd thought that one of my competitors would be... myself.

If your sales are down, I suggest you do a search for your best sellers with the exact same title. These guys are too lazy to do their own titles and keywords. They copy everything word for word because they can't do it themselves.

Tell me how this works.   Are we assuming that the guy actually bought all 100 images from SS, at full size?  Any idea what that would cost?  The other possibility is that it's done by, or with the help of, an insider.   And given the screwy portfolios now turning up - like the one with thousands of bags of pot - I don't find that hard to believe.

Imagine being a lawyer working for Getty, and having to stand before a judge and justify this action.  "Your honor, my company is in the business of looking for legal loopholes that let us profit from other people's work.  We believe we found one in this case."

 

We should all stop talking about these images being "in the public domain".   It clearly isn't that simple, and at some point a court will decide whether that's true and if so, to what extent.  When we assume they're PD we're just making Getty's case for them.

Quote from: stockastic on July 27, 2016, 15:27

Getty is the model for the next generation of big corporations. Invent nothing, manufacture nothing, add no value - just deploy an army of lawyers to secure and exploit other people's intellectual property.   Make money the old fashioned way: with deception, misdirection and intimidation.   Strike when and where people aren't looking, where you're pretty sure no defense has been erected.

Not just lawyers. Don't forget the bankers/ owners shifting money about and piling on debts to the company to line their own pockets. Be interesting to see how this works out.

At least we used to be able to say that bankers and 'financiers' made a contribution to capitalism by assuming risk.  But the massive bailouts and bonuses of 2009 removed even that fig leaf of cover.

Execs like this are brought in at IPO time, and incentivized with big stock options - often multiple grants over time, at different prices.  They're  ambitious people who want to get rich.  After a couple years it becomes clear what those stock options are actually going to be worth; and if they're going nowhere, it's time to try their luck somewhere else.   

The question is - can you do this, and keep your Herbalife business going at the same time?

LR is still available as standalone, so there is a need for RD me thinks

It is, but new features (like the black and white level brush adjustments) are showing up in the subscription version only. 

Don't let your Amway distributorship lapse just yet.

I suggest posting on FAA's own forum - I think you'd find a lot of interest.

Well if he's really leaving to "spend more time with his family" then that means we won't see him pop up in another corner office at some other big company a month from now.  Right?  When he does, everyone should send him email saying "hey you said you were going to spend more time with your family. What happened?"  And another to SS :  "Do you realize he isn't really spending more time with his family? "

SS will follow the classic parabolic trajectory.