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Messages - michaeldb
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651
« on: October 29, 2010, 20:53 »
Buyers can never be perfectly safe. Anyone can sue anyone else for anything. I can send Leaf a cease-and-desist letter claiming that I have copyrighted the phrase "microstock group". Such a letter means nothing. But nothing prevents me from sending it.
If I am iStock, I can write an agreement which says that the buyer gets X rights on Sunday and Y rights on Monday and all of the aforementioned rights once a blue moon. Does it mean anything? Not if a judge finds that it violates copyright law.
IP interactions consist mostly of gray areas. Legislatures, judges, and other interested parties are making them up as we go along. Almost nothing is written in stone. Nothing is perfectly safe.
652
« on: October 15, 2010, 15:25 »
Yes, only a tiny percentage of the stuff you see on 'art' sites is stockworthy in any way. People who make such images and give them away do so for vanity reasons and will have little if any sense of the commeriality of images, or be able to endure rejections of most of they wonderful 'art' by microstock reviewers. ...Does that mean Fotolia will be filled with Anime and Vampire stuff now?...
653
« on: October 14, 2010, 14:29 »
Wedostock.com works fine for me. Even though they are brand new, I've actually had a couple of sale this month, it's more than you can say about many other Scandinavian sites.
/Sune 
Which other 'many other Scandinavian sites' are you referring to?
I made well over $100 on both Yaymicro and Crestock this month and over $50 on Scanstock ... that is considerably more than 'a couple sales'. I'm not sure which other Scandinavian photo sites there are?
Is Finland considered Scandinavia? I have been averaging about $60 per month at Rodeo for a long time. 35% commission and submit by FTP or DVD. http://www.rodeostudio.fi/photographers/
654
« on: October 14, 2010, 14:19 »
it is actually 52%..
Yea, but with 50% commission, it's worth a shot.
Absolutely. Just got my first payout from GL today. 
655
« on: October 01, 2010, 12:26 »
When I started to get more pain from a mouse, I tried 2 trackballs:
-thumb
-forefinger
The thumb trackball was easy to use and helped the pain, for a while, but then it came back. The forefinger trackball was not good.
Now I am using a Wacom tablet which came with a pen and a mouse which works on the tablet. Some applications don't work well with the pen (Poser Pro for example) then I switch to the mouse. This setup hasn't caused wrist pain.
656
« on: September 29, 2010, 17:09 »
Exclusivity isn't the only way that IS can compete, other than on price. Each of the other sites has its own variation on selling stock, price is not the only variable. IS has the advantages of having been first (that edge worked pretty well for eBay and Amazon), IS has deeper pockets than any other site, except potentially Veer. And it has a community with a much greater identity and range of social offerings than any other site, if it hasn't completly destroyed that. And more. I always hated exclusivity, and the unequal playing field which it creates. The culture of favoritsm, with its little party favor badges and 'cannisters'. It smacks more of grade school than of business, and not the nice part of grade school either, the snotty cliquey part. I doubt that IS will ever abandon it but I think they would have a better business in the long run if they did. It is apparently exclusivity, and its ever increasing percentage of royalties, which is behind IS's claim that its business model is untenable in the long run. If that is truly so, they should abandon exclusivity, instead of making an ever-worsening and incomprehensible mess of their royalty structure. Try posting that on IS forums.
I already said they should dump exclusives and pay everybody over 20%, so I'm sure my ideas are real popular over there. 
I think that's exactly what Getty would like to do, but for the moment, exclusives are the reason they can charge higher prices. Once they dump exclusives, they're just competing on price like everyone else.
657
« on: September 24, 2010, 13:20 »
GL is doing well for me (I do illustrations - no real people), I've earned a payout there already, and the submission process is probably the fastest and easiest of the 8+ sites I submit to. Nothing 'dead' about GL for me.
658
« on: September 22, 2010, 20:40 »
Interesting thread. My guess would be that it is indeed vacations. If sales slow down in the summer for that reason, it makes sense that submissions would also. But if it is not just seasonal, and the flood of new submitters has crested, that would be interesting news indeed. Shutterstock's 'New images added this week' figure has dropped to about 70K per week for the last couple of months when previously it had been over 110K. Of course this may be due to vacations...
659
« on: September 20, 2010, 21:00 »
^ Surely, if you intend to remove it anyway, you can just tell iStock to cancel your account.
Why do all the work of deactivating files individually?
I can't afford to lose all my istock income in one go or I would of gone before now. Will have to take a slow exit, building up my earnings on other sites.
Of course!
Every of us need to try to redirect customers to sites where we can get more money for our work... That will be slow process but useful...
Right. IS has gradually made it clear that they do not want me as a submitter, and I am departing gradually. I have removed the links to IS from my website (from which I have gotten 34 paid referrals to IS) I have deactivated a few images, and I intend to remove more gradually. It's too late for me to stop submitting altogether, because I already did that a few months ago.
660
« on: September 20, 2010, 20:52 »
Is that why I only get asian massage parlours? That must be your surfing history.
Wow this could explain why when I get on political sites I only see ads for Adobe software and Viagra.
661
« on: September 18, 2010, 21:03 »
I do mostly vectors, although some 3D renders too. Veer has been doing better for me lately. $185 last month, BME. And that is with 106 images in pending for a long, loing time, due to the Dash for Cash stampeded. If those ever get reviewed, this month might be better than last, the way it's going.
I really like Veer, actually. Now that the vector submission system is working well, Veer has about the easiest uploading this side of GL.
662
« on: September 17, 2010, 17:15 »
I don't think subs are a good idea or that they would be necessary. New systems are coming which will make microtransactions a lot less costly. This one is supposed to be coming from Paypal soon: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100813/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_paypal_micropaymentsIf you don't like Paypal, the credit card banks are working on their own super-cheap microtrans systems. When they arrive, there will be no need to make customers pay for credit packages or subscriptions because the overhead expense for a single transaction will be so small. These new microtrans systems should shake things up in the microstock agency business and could be an opening for a new agency started by microstockers which would not require credits or subs and which could give contributors a higher percentage and still make a profit or, if a co-op, break even.
663
« on: September 17, 2010, 01:58 »
A month ago, I came to the conclusion that the best match on iStock is a big prejudiced fake (as I suspected before), based on a little experiment with one shot of my last uploaded batch there (July).
Is it possible that the rigged best match and all the special privileges for IS's pets are there because those pets could not compete without them?
664
« on: September 17, 2010, 01:32 »
Interesting link, I had not seen this. I have read about many possible 'fountains of youth' but most have too many problems. However, this might work.
After all, our bodies know how to repair and replace cells, so it is not clear why we should get old at all. The problems seems to be that damage is done faster than it can be repaired, and a lot of the damage is from oxygen radicals. So the 'cure' described in this video might work, at least to some extent. I will almost certainly be dead long dead by the time the FDA approves it here in the US though.
665
« on: September 17, 2010, 01:15 »
An example from today:
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-14252406-christmas-presents.php
And what a fabulously innovative and creative idea! Taking a photo of Christmas presents! Who would ever have thought of that! No wonder IS wanted to rush it to the head of the line, ahead of all the less creative IS exclusives. Oh, 'less creative IS exclusives,' that's redundant, sorry.
666
« on: September 14, 2010, 22:08 »
... once I've had time to read my 'Illustrator for Dummies' book, which has been in front of me on the desk for about two months now... unopened 
Once you turn the pages, you may never turn back. I started out in microstock in 2005 by submitting photos and 3D renders to IS (may they rest in peace), and then I got into Illustrator and did only vectors for a long time. Now I'm getting back into doing a lot of 3D too.
667
« on: September 14, 2010, 16:11 »
I have just canceled my exclusivity, and will be removing my entire portfolio of images over the next 30 days. To my fellow contributors, good luck on your future endeavors, Farewell.
Welcome to the wonderful world of independence!
670
« on: September 08, 2010, 20:34 »
What is required for something to be salable is people with money who want to buy. If StockFresh doesn't have a record of sustained earnings, etc it only means that it is worth less, not worthless. I'll offer them $150 for StockFresh right now, no questions asked. ...even if they
did sell, it would take years to get the company into sellable shape. They need to show a history of revenues, sales trends, projected earnings, etc.
671
« on: September 08, 2010, 17:25 »
Approximately 1/4 of the supermarkets in Norway are owned by a major coop (called coop). Each customer pays 300 kroner (50UDS) for a membership, and get a 1% return on what they spend there. I have the impression that profits are quite good. There are also several major food brands owned by farmer coops. Coops work.
For years I had a policy with an insurance company owned by policy holders. I got dividends and when it was bought by another company I got $4000. I think there are all kinds of business models for this kind of thing, and the owners living in different countries might make it harder but maybe not impossible. I wonder how many of us who are serious about microstock as a business might be interested in part ownership in an agency. I really think the time might be right, with IS possibly imploding before our eyes, and lots of refugees open to new ideas. Maybe it's too bad this thread is titled about a union.
672
« on: September 08, 2010, 16:59 »
Yeah I always wondered why there were IS people here, who had IS forums to post in, and who loved IS so much, and who could only make money there. Now it looks like MSG will be getting a lot of new members. they don't care it's a senseless action, also I find it strange that new members popping in just to announce that they have removed their portfolio from iStock 
They are new members here, but they may have been at IS for a long time...
673
« on: September 08, 2010, 16:29 »
i think instead of starting a brand new co-op, or at least till it's set up (at some indeterminate future), we should just negotiate with an agency already up and running, and throw ALL our support to them. right now, the two candidate are cutcaster and stockfresh for their higher commissions and their vast experience.
so, if one can't be king, we can still be the king maker.
Problem is; how to guarante the new king won't be sold to Getty once it has momentum. History speaks against Stockfresh in that regard.
Good point If we are to be kingmakers, my vote for king would be GL. I've already earned a payout at GL, in half the time I have been waiting to be accepted at StockFresh. And I have dealt with a GL person and know a bit about their organization and they are good people. But I don't like kings, and would prefer to establish a republic, and get rich. I guess that's the American in me.
674
« on: September 08, 2010, 16:24 »
I did it.
Exclusivity Cancellation Application
Thank you. Your exclusivity status will be deactivated in 30 days.
Kudos.
Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of independents. Enjoy your new freedom. As for me, as an independent illustrator, IS offers to pay me 15% royalties. What is the economic/business justification for taking 85% commission for a product which IS had no part in creating and which is distributed electronically by an automated system? 85%?"...The only hope is that in our connected world things change so quickly that a much better alternative for photographers might arise at any given point. The middle man is taking now the largest straw......but for how long ?" Cristian [edited to add:] I have removed links to IS from my site (a small thing, but IS got 24 referrals from those links on my site).
675
« on: September 08, 2010, 15:33 »
Yay has been kind enough to outline how they have built their system upon open source: http://yaymicro.com/view.action?page=open_source_stock_photo_yaymicro
Great link, I had no idea. I don't know anything about the business climate or structure in Denmark, but the rest of Borg's ideas seem well worth thinking about. Now might be the perfect time to start a new stock agency. It's possible that microstock is about to undergo major changes. If Paypal does what they have announced here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100813/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_paypal_micropaymentsthen the subscription and credit models may become unnecessary. Why would buyers buy sets of credit or subscribe if single images can be sold for a very low transaction fee? I know a lot of people do not like Paypal, but the credit card companies/banks have similar micropayment products in the works. And like FD-Regular, plan to use Google for your search engine in part, or maybe in whole eventually. And like Alias said, don't pay reviewers, just accept images which have been reviewed elsewhere. These things might make your costs so low that you could actually undercut the current agencies on price and still make a profit for investors, and pay contributors a fair percentage, near 50%. "The main admin and the driving members of such a coop can kiss their ports goodbye on DT and SS." FD-Regular Would we have to make the names of the investing/owning contributors public?
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