Who I am:
I've been doing stock for 14 years.  At one time I was the #1 video contributor at iStock.  My videos have earned millions for the agencies I submit to.  I've been with ShutterStock for about 10 years.  Today I have thousands of top performing videos at several agencies.

Who I am not:
A desperate artist that will accept a pittance in royalties from any agency.


Today I opted out of image and video sales at ShutterStock.

Quote from: Cider Apple on May 26, 2020, 16:58
I can't believe that video download numbers for each level is the same as images. what? Video contributors are going to have the roughest end of this shite system.

This.

Wow.  What?  This is not a good idea.

Agree with you 100% Bart.

My words to Pond5 ...

My first reaction is that I wish there was an option to begin uploading exclusive content moving forward without having to kill my relationships at other agencies.  This would create a more stable transition over time.  If the exclusive program is an "on-off" switch and I pull all of my content from other agencies I will lose 75% of my income overnight.

What I would love to do is upload my next batch of videos and make them exclusive to Pond5.  And / or the option to delete videos from other agencies and make them exclusive to Pond5.  I started as an 'exclusive contributor' with iStock back in 2006 and it did not go well ultimately, the purchase by Getty changed a lot of things.  I would very much like to be part of the Pond5 exclusive program, however I would like to have 100% exclusive content on Pond5 rather than be a wholly exclusive contributor to only one agency.

Like many others I lost a lot of money. Lesson learned.

RevoStock has closed. No information on payments to contributors. I know for a fact that many contributors are out many thousands of dollars.

yeah it's just a temporary sale that Adobe is doing, we still get commission on full price.

Don't see any of mine but I'll be keeping an eye on them. Thank you for the tip!

I am very interested in this. I run my current site as WP. I would love to help from a graphics and design GUI standpoint. Message me Kona!

Ok, I have deactivated about 458 images. ~30 left active. I have to admit after being with iStock since 2005 this is a very sad day indeed.

Top 25 deactivated so far... many to go. I will post my final number in the other thread.

Just found one of my images on Google Drive. And it's free! yay!

Time to make more changes.

WOW! LISA!!! HOLY COW! This is amazing, sad but amazing!

I am so very bummed that the days of good old iStock are behind us. But bravo for this! I left exclusivity both video and images last year. I haven't uploaded there for quite some time. I am much happier at other sites. I guess maybe I can still be part of this "strike" by disabling some images?

This really is a drag Yuri. I wear prescription Persol eyeglasses and prescription Ray-Ban sunglasses. I have been looking for a new pair lately that DO NOT have any trademarks in anyway so I can do shots of myself. Fair it is not, but the law is the law. It is our job to know. I am working on a very popular USA TV show right now that almost used a trademarked lamp post, legal caught it before it aired. This stuff is a pain in the a$$.

Quote from: noodle on July 28, 2012, 12:56
if i had a time machine in 2002 i would have mortgaged my house to invest in Apple stock...

YES!

They are property so you could will them to someone

hello all, well it's official, I have left iStock exclusivity on video too now, left exclusivity on photo Sept.2010 like so many others, it has been a lot of work but well worth it, I will not be pulling my portfolio but I am making new upload priorities different across several sites.

PRESS RELEASE HERE...
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9085704.htm

I wished there would have been more love for exclusives like myself the last few months. The end of this week I am NON-exclusive.

I left photo exclusive in the fall of 2010. Now I have decided to leave video exclusive. That is how I feel. iStock has to do what it has to do, so do I.

more info here: http://www.eyeidea.com/2011/12/06/expanding-stock-video-distribution/

yesterday was really bad, huge drop like a cliff! boooo! 

I too have noticed some very strange, almost discriminatory results with Best Match. I did a video only search for "technology" - I was zero of the 100 results. Why? I have over 400 "technology" videos in my portfolio. Left out because I'm at 40%? Because I was one of the first video contributors? Because iStock wants to level the playing field?

I don't know. I have no clue.

hello all,
this is a great thread, so glad to hear everyone expressing their opinions openly here. I left iStock photo exclusivity back in Sept.2010 when the new royalties were announced. It has been exciting getting out to new places. I am still exclusive with video but I'm just not sure how that will go. To be honest I'm a bit sad to see what has happened at iStock over the last year.

Good luck jsnover! Your work is incredible and I know you will do well!