No this is not our responsibility it's their own, and they need to stop reproducing with no control. Politics and history doesn't tell me that these people should live in poverty forever, in terrible conditions, because of your blaming outside interests. They need to govern and work from within and throwing money or food at them which will be stolen or traded, and never make it to the people who need it, is not the answer.

These billionaires should send money to the artists who did the work.

Although I agree that billionaires should share the pot more equitably instead of stuffing every single tiny crumb of money into their ever gaping maws, your statement about those in need shows such tremendous ignorance and lack of insight, devoid of any historical and current context, never mind human empathy that I worry for you and those around you.

Quote from: fotoVoyager on November 15, 2021, 08:41

As I understand it, you only sell the NFT 'rights' whatever they are.

The copyright, and therefore the ability to sell your images as stock, prints etc., stay with the original artist.

I'm currently rebuilding my website fotovoyager.com with a view to selling images as NFTs independent of the agencies.

I don't really understand how it works yet, but one step at a time.

I suspect that if it takes off, the agencies will be trying to sell those rights for you, taking their usual unreasonable percentage.

I don't think so. As far as I know, you sell your "product" completely and it becomes buyer's asset for good. NFT transaction does not resemble the distribution strategy of stock agencies, that's why you hear high amount of money circulating around on NFT markets.

No, you only transfer the block chain rights, not the copyright. Seems bizarre, but there you are.

Good luck. Will happen for all full timers who aren't massive factories in the end. A shame, but fun whilst it lasted. Greed and billionaires ruin everything.

They apparently haven't sent this e-mail to everyone, but only a couple best sellers. What do you think of it?

"We�re reaching out to let you know about an important new addition to our customer video offerings, confidentially and ahead of the rest of the contributor community.

Video is growing. More customers are licensing footage and those that do are using more of it. Demand for video content is high and it is growing but there�s still more opportunity.   

Many of our customers tell us that they are not yet using video, even though they would like to and want to license footage, alongside images, vectors and illustrations in one simple plan. 

To meet this opportunity, we�re launching new iStock �Premium + Video� subscriptions, offering our customers access to all the visual content they need, including video, in a single subscription.

 
What does this mean for you?

We�re confident that this will unlock video for many more customers, increasing the footage being licensed, and ultimately driving more video revenue and royalties. To reflect the inclusion of video, Premium + Video has our highest subscription price per file, which is the same across all file types. We�re expecting to see customer download growth to offset the lower price per file when compared to credit based video licensing. Premium + Video will roll out in a phased approach, with the first countries beginning in May.

For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions below.
 
This is part of our broader investment in video this year which includes: increased investment in digital marketing for video, SEO tactics to drive more customers to your great content, and increased prominence of video on our websites.

A special invitation

As a key video contributor, we want to relay our confidence in continued video growth and we want that to translate to your continued investment and 4K contributions. To do this, we are offering a minimum guarantee on your video royalties from all sites and offerings for a period of time, provided continued acceptance levels meet or exceed historic levels.

Specifically, for the 12 months starting June 2021, if your video royalty earnings are less than for the previous 12 months, we will make up the difference. So, for example, if you earned $100,000 in royalties in from June 1 2020 to May 31 2021 but $95,000 from June 1 2021 to May 31 2022, we will pay out the $5,000 difference. 

 It is important for you to know that this minimum guarantee offer is not being made to all contributors. It is being offered to you as a specially selected contributor who has significant video earnings, so we need to remind you that this letter, all of the details about the new subscription and the minimum guarantee offer is subject to the confidentiality sections in your Getty Images Artist Supply Agreement.

Within the next day, you will receive an email from DocuSign, inviting you to carefully read and sign the minimum guarantee agreement. The email will be sent from Getty Images via DocuSign with a subject line of �Please DocuSign: Getty Images Minimum Guarantee Agreement�.

We hope you feel comfortable taking advantage of this opportunity, in which case please sign as soon as possible and no later than Friday 28 May. 

We look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Sincerely, 


Brad Ralph

Senior Director, Content Development

iStockphoto LP / Getty Images

 

Paul Banwell

Senior Director, Contributor Relations

Getty Images

[email protected]

 

How is the Premium + Video subscription priced for the customer?

The Premium + Video subscriptions will be priced at approximately 1.5 to 2X the cost of the Image-only subscriptions. We will be testing in various markets with our initial launch in order to identify the optimal price. Our aim is to price these plans in a way that drives increased video downloads and grows revenue and royalties.

 
What asset volumes / packages are available within Premium + Video?

There will be a variety of Premium + Video subscription packages when they launch, starting from 10 downloads per month.


How is the price per file calculated?

In accordance with the Rate Card for iStock.com subscriptions, the price per file is determined at the end of each subscription month (which is specific to each subscription and may not be the end of the calendar month) by dividing the monthly price for that subscription by the number of downloads against that subscription.
 

What is the minimum pay-out guaranteed for Essentials and Signature files respectively?

The minimum customer price per file will be the same as it is today for subscriptions as outlined in the Rate Card. This will apply for all file type downloads in the new Premium + Video Subscription.


How will the average Premium + Video subscription royalty compare with the average video Premium Access royalty?

The new Premium + Video subscription packages will be more comparable to iStock Image Subscription packages but with expected higher average royalties earned, given the higher price point of the Premium + Video packages.


What do you expect the most popular Video + Premium package to be?

Based on our Image subscriptions, we expect the 10 downloads per month, monthly subscriptions to be the most popular. For many customers, this gives them enough content to manage their needs in a flexible way.

 
What impact will Premium + Video have on video credit sales?

Some customers who buy video using credits may switch to subscription packages, but many of our customers actually prefer to license content via credits because that method better suits their specific needs. We think subscription plans offer increased opportunity especially from:

�       Customers who are not currently licensing video at all

�       Customers who are licensing video but currently from another source

�       Increasing the amount of video content being licensed from our existing video buyers

 

As with all subscriptions, the intent is to drive much higher volume of downloading and licensing, in exchange for customers moving into more committed plans.

(End of Email)"

Where did you get this?

I think Facebook is selling me clicks on the ads 'shop now' button, which has generated 250+ clicks so far at a cost of 0.12 per click.

I can't say if that's value for money yet, or even a complete waste of money, but it's definitely not 'likes' on a Facebook page.

I'm going to try Facebook ads first since they come with an image which I think is a great help, especially for non-English speakers. �10 for 10 days, so �100 experiment.

Then after I'll try Google Adwords for a similar amount.

Since the dreaded Covid has done for my job for a good while yet (travel photographer) I've started making the backpack camera bags I've always wanted and built a website to sell them (gokyogear.com).

Obviously a venture like this lives and dies by advertising and I figure Facebook advertising is a good place to start. I have no idea how that works, how much it costs or where to start.

Has anyone used Facebook advertising to sell stuff? Can you pick who they target with your ads? Do you have to pay up front for x amount of ads, or buy credits that get used up when people click on them?

What about Google ads? I presume you have to choose keywords and the cost of those varies with their popularity. Any tips on using Google would be appreciated.

Also, feel free to test my website effort to destruction, it's the first time I've made something like this, so there's bound to be mistakes.

Am I remembering correctly that March is the month where they do a huge Connect report, where more or less every one of our images has sold for a fraction of a cent - even though there are also some Connect reports monthly.
It's all smoke and mirrors. 

Not if my download numbers are anything to go by.

There may be some mileage in looking at the iStock Royalty Free Exclusive agreement, since that effectively says you can't sell ANY of your work anywhere else except through them using the most ubiquitous, widely understood method of distribution. It's quite different to all other exclusive deals which are image exclusive.

I'm in the UK - sole trader.

There's a lot more costs involved with Ltd. Co., you'd have to be making a fair amount to make it worthwhile. I think the idea that somehow you pay less tax is slightly confusing too - you just pay it at different times and different ways that are advantageous to real companies, but not necessarily to an individual any more.

As always, talk to a professional.

Quote from: alexandersr on January 22, 2021, 11:54

I wonder how people make thousands of $ per month, when microstock is supossed to downhill. 

I'm sure there quite a few. But they're probably shooting topics that are an expensive investment and have tens of thousands of files. The return on investment used to be easy to justify. These days it must take a long time to break even on a shoot if at all.

This is the crux of the problem for photographers and agencies alike. If it�s not worth investing because the return on the shoot takes too long the images that are needed will not be there.

There�s only so many pictures of random stuff that are needed.

In the long term I think we�ll see the rebirth of more expensive collections with images that take investment to produce. Of course by that time, we�ll all have gone out of business and it�ll be the next generation that benefits.

I�ve reached the point where it�s no longer financially sensible to invest to produce images and the lifestyle photographers who are the last to be affected will get there soon.

Is there any difference between a radicalised maga and a radicalised jihadist?

No.

They are both violent extremists.

As instigaters behind the civil disobedience in the streets, Burn, Loot and Murder BLM leaders should be charged as accessories to every crime their group commits.

The peaceful demonstration at the capitol turned bad when riot police caused the problem. This was a peaceful occupation until then. They murdered an innocent white woman, who was in our military service by shooting her. She wasn't armed, didn't throw rocks or bottles of burning fuel wasn't harming anybody or looting. She was just a protester. I'm upset that this forum supports racist murder and misogamy.

Equal rights for everyone.

I fear you may be suffering from a paranoid mental illness. Please, please, seek help before your delusions get worst. Hope you get well soon.