Quote from: Injustice for all on October 01, 2023, 20:53
it seems to me that in comparison to all the other agencies they are behaving much better with us.

I would agree.
It's quite impossible to stop Ai development in the near future, and Adobe give the option to be payed for machine learning.
As I said in other post, mission should be payed more, especially ones that involve people. But I have to admit that working for these missons could give good earnings if you produce enough.
Other gives penny for whole portfolio we have built in years. In this case you can monetize lot of similar, that is much easier to do.
Unfortunately timing is too short this sessions, let's see next ones.

I'm sorry listening your comments and I'm probably really lucky; of course this month will be a really special and unique one, but I have to say that I'm going to reach BME on pond5, over 1k earnings.
Just to say that not all is lost, good luck to everyone

Quote from: MatHayward on September 29, 2023, 17:16
Thanks for the feedback everyone. We are interested in learning more about what you like/don't like about the Missions so please keep your comments coming.

Hi Mat, so here is mine: after your comment I did a new test.

First point / question:
For what I can see, the mission of shooting a simple group of objects (bananas) is really easy to produce, you can plan sets and take shoots with decent light.
Mission that involve people (eating, handling) is much much more hard to produce. I say "hard" that means that the final result is less good photos in longer time, so it seems really more difficult.

I can produce 50 photos of bananas (one set) in few minutes
But I have to miss my dinner  to take same amount of decent images when there is one person involved.

So I think that the earning should be much higher for mission that involve partecipating people.

The second point is that is really not clear the level of image that Adobe is looking for.
is selective focus ok?
is a detail with only partly visible object ok?
Is it okay to send high ISO images with available light?
white balance is not important?
are some blurred motion ok taking slow shutter speed images?

The examples in the mission briefs look too "stock images standard" with good light and pose, so it seems impossible to have high number of images without proper light and set.

In other words, I think that, while the subject you need it's clear, it's not really clear the technical value of images you need, and the brief should be more detailed on what is ok and what is not

Thanks for your answer

Quote from: Injustice for all on September 28, 2023, 19:03

Quote from: Her Ugliness on September 28, 2023, 18:51

Quote from: Injustice for all on September 28, 2023, 18:22

why?have you never seen bananas hanging outdoors in front of fruit shops for example?or hanging outdoors on the wall?

No.

yes,also hang them in the sun to dry them,whole or cut into rounds,or hung in the cool outdoors to preserve them.

I wonder if bananas wrapped in clear plastic are okay,but i think yes.

from my point of view,every real environment can be a banana in "real life situation"
you can also find a rotten banana on the road or in a field,that is also "real life situation"

I think you r doing too much work! In the end, the only thing that Ai needs is to understand what is a banana 

I'm agree on not all but most part of what you say, by the way after Mat comments I think that yes, they need also garbage shots, the only important thing is to clearly see the requested subject, nothing else. No lighting setup, no denoising, nothing.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on September 28, 2023, 14:51
c) People "may" or "may not" be compensated for their work? So it could be a complete waste of time?

Well, but this is true for any image you send to microstock agencies

Quote from: MatHayward on September 28, 2023, 00:27
Regarding the comments such as what @Derby said "it's absolutely not possible to collect 500/1000 snapshots in a few days". Respectfully, I disagree. It's important you don't confuse these photos with traditional stock photos. A big difference is that we encourage similar images. You can shoot up to 50 frames of the same setup by changing the general composition, focal point, etc. You can shoot these in JPG and upload them as-is straight out of camera. Obviously, you want them to look good, but you do not need to spend time doing RAW conversions or postprocessing. In addition, no keywords are required.

Thanks Mat for your comment, I still think that the work is too much for low payment. By the way, your words let me think that I'll probably give it a try again, reducing time for shoot.

I have a question about previously taken images: is it ok to send also images already for sale in Adobe stock portfolio? Or images have to be completely new?
In missions brief I can read that AI generated images are not accepted, but what about images already for sale?
Thanks

I received invitation too. Start to test some random shots this evening with my family... and it's absolutely not possible to collect 500/1000 snapshot in few days, too much time, too much work for so low (and not sure) payment.
Even without post production and keywording the time to shoot/import/collect in set/describe and ordered upload... not worth it.
Even if I should had a lot of images already done for their missions the time I have to spent to search images in my HD, re-export, collect and organizie and upload, is too much. No thanks

Sorry Adobe, I think you're the best agency, but this time you're asking too much and paying the job really too low
Thanks anyway

Quote from: Pacesetter on September 26, 2023, 23:57
Shutterstock is not going as well as the previous three months but even with a slower month I had this sale drop in early last week...

I had couple days ago a quite near amount of $102 for a clip. Shutterstock is terrible for the basic royalties, but I have to admit that I've never earned similar amount for single clip in any other agency

Quote from: Pacesetter on September 27, 2023, 12:50
Was on my way to bed but had to get back up to share this one that just popped in this evening. An editorial video cart sale....

Excellent, congrats!

Quote from: Noedelhap on September 22, 2023, 22:57
I think Adobe should immediately cease all AI intake

They have just launched Firefly for commercial use, so there is absolutely no way to do this.
What they have to do is to work on rules and reviewers, instead to involve contributors in consequence of their choice

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on September 22, 2023, 20:19
And as far as taking IP rights seriously, their own moderation decisions speak more loudly than the words in their email.

This Apple logo is still there nearly two weeks after I posted it here. This week I've seen more Apple logos, Spiderman costumes, mentions of Barbie in image titles. Lots of new content breaking the rules. Lots of old logos still left online...

Yes, this is really a nonsense....

Yes it's basic working but it seems that, at the same time that Ai learn more, it can also forget something, or it can be confused with different inputs, and it has to learn again
Or maybe understand better. With need to re see images.
I don't know, these are only my personal assumption.

By the way, it's very clear that how Ai works it's NOT very clear 

Quote from: Mir on September 15, 2023, 16:02
As far as I understand once AI is "trained" on the images it can't be untrained. So if we remove our images there's no difference, it's already done.

I thought the same, but now I'm realizing that this is not really completely clear.
Maybe it depends on how the AI engine is working, and how many times it needs to refresh its knowledge on existing images.

Otherwise, I can't see any reason for which Shutterstock is giving recurring payment (every six months they said) for data training.

In other words, I think this is still to be clarified, and maybe there is not a single answer

Sales are quite normal for me.
For what I can see, having some AI images, the sales for AI are much more fluctuating than photos, and it seems to me that life of AI images is shorter than photos, probably because most successful photos are quickly duplicated.

Or maybe it's just in my case, the timing is too short to see real trends for AI

Quote from: cobalt on September 08, 2023, 20:04
If you don't want to do ai, just don't do it.
Nobody is forcing you to work with a new media category.

Don't worry Jasmine, it's useless to tell something a million times to someone who doesn't want to see.
I would ask if any of all that are fighting against AI are photographers that don't use digital photography.
Because just few years ago the digital revolution changed completely the world of photography, but everyone seems to forget that times.
That was a lesson from the past, and it should be learned, instead of complaining AI without any hope to stop it

Yes we really need news about this... I'm starting to be afraid about wich words can be used
and also, even after checking of my portfolio, I'm not sure if I did some mistake in keywording or titles.

It's really crazy right now, it seems that anyone, even the established and most reliable contribuitor, could be hit with these :-(

@Mat please we need reliable information about the "account block" wave

Yes, just read this full story (with happy end)

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-i-need-help-please/

Quote from: Gannet77 on September 06, 2023, 10:04

Quote from: sdxfcgvh on September 05, 2023, 23:48
Hi, I wanted to start a topic, but I don't know how :C  I have similar problem, but I have never been paid yet. I know that minimum payout was recently changed from 35 to 25$, but since when exactly? I've earned more than 25 many months ago (few years even), but less than 35 and I wonder if I receive payment after 35 or something else is wrong? My tax form is approved and actual, payment method is paypal 25$. Any help please?
(sorry for grammar mistakes, English is not my first language)

Shutterstock Terms of Service changed as of this month - threshold reduced to $25 but payments will be processed on the 15th.  So you should be paid then.

There was an email... see terms of service section 8.

15th of the month was always been the final day, but they usually pay around 6 or 7 of the month, this is not changed

I'm affected too, it seems many if not any contributors are involved

Quote from: stocky on September 05, 2023, 20:58
Last time this happened didn't get paid til following month.

Really? Never heard the story. So no payment until next month? It's scary...

...sorry mistake...

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on August 31, 2023, 11:41

Quote from: gnirtS on August 31, 2023, 06:56
Haven't they already used everyones data without permission or payment ?

It seems to me that Adobe should reserve compensation (if they ever keep their promise) only for contributors not submitting AI-generated images.
For AI prompters and AI enthusiasts, compensation is already taking place, as they benefit and take advantage of the generation of their images by an AI, that exploits images from other authors.

It seems to me that someone still doesn't want to see reality.
It's like fighitng against windmills.

And now that should become a battle of contributors against each other?

No thanks

Quote from: Her Ugliness on August 29, 2023, 08:52
That's not really a problem for Adobe though. They are not selling copyrights.
And many agencies do sell public domain images (even though they only seem to give the privilege to submit such content to certain account), so that has never really been an issue. The question you have to ask yourself is "Why are customers paying for images that are free to use?" But, again, not Adobe's problem.

No no no please sorry, it's exactly the opposite 
For Adobe stock the problem IS EXACTLY "why someone is paying me to have this image?"

About image source: it can be original, or public dmain, or AI generated, it doesn't matter.
And it doesn't matter BOTH for AdobeStock and for the buyer!

The final goal is to have the necessary image, and to have it in the shortest time as possible. This is the reason to exist for stock agency.

We are complaining for lowing royalties from years... but from the business point of view, it's the SPEED the killerapplication for any agency, not the price: if I can find the image FASTER, I win. With no difference about the source.

TIME is the most important value now in this market. The buyers time!
Databases cover quite all of reality (and fantasy) subject. Yes there are still some niches of course... but as niches they will interest only a really few number of buyers.

In the mainstream, buyers want SPEED: the BEST image in the FASTEST time; and for this reason, a ready to use image will be always winner and faster than a "probably-I-Try-To-Obtain-with-AI"

All the story is terrible and I also want to say good luck to Justanimage to clear situation with Adobe.

By the way, I can understand (I know) how a big company have sometimes to struggle with this kind of issue...
Some threatening letters from copyright owners, and the Adobe legal team ask to Adobe contributors team to shut down immediately all the accounts involved...
Usually in a big company it works this way, it doesn't matter who is involved, and the dialogue between departments is usually poor.
Mat is great in communication with contributors and I think he is actually in great great trouble for these reasons; but I have to say, it's true, that the reviewers fault is a big big issue for Adobe.

Hope all of these will be solved in few

Quote from: trek on August 27, 2023, 20:19
Any progress?  My renewal time approaches.  The blue bar keeps tempting me to click.

Progress? Last announce was in february 2023, I don't think you can have any progress in... probably next six months

Quote from: f8 on August 23, 2023, 02:51

Quote from: cascoly on August 22, 2023, 21:49

Quote from: f8 on August 22, 2023, 04:38

Quote from: Thomas Vogel on August 22, 2023, 00:01
I read that in the news today. Bummer, right? So, now I'm going to Instagram, search for the most successful mid-journey accounts there, and pick out the best parts for my own Insta account. This stuff belongs to everyone now.

Now you know why AS is going full speed on this. You do the work and they can sell it and not pay you because it's not yours. Prepare yourself.

copyrigbt doesnt matter for contributors - if your submitted work is accepted AS agrees to pay you

copyrigbt doesnt matter for contributors and so it starts. If an image is not copyrighted then there is no protection from any agency. There is already very little respect for any contributor with copyright and submitting content that is not protected will be contentious in the future. I said same about microstock circa 2007 and could see the result of where we are today. As mentioned, be prepared. And it won't be AS specific, it will be industry wide. We are at entry level.

In the current situation where most people upload to multiple platforms there is no way to monitor copyright infringement. This will increase tenfold  with AI and the abuse will also increase tenfold.

I don't produce AI content, and for that matter nobody does. As mentioned, prepare yourself. There is not one platform/agency out there that has your best interests or finacial gain as their priority.

Microstock agencies and market are for sure not the greatest and most important company in which the AI will have impact

There are several great company that has BIG interest in regulate copyright and AI: let's say Disney, Pixar, Warner, any big company that produce visual content using AI, all of them will need a clear copyright on their own creations; and they will discuss and obtain it.

Microsotck is not the center of the world