Quote from: rubyroo on November 25, 2011, 04:21

What does that analogy make us?  The chefs who put together the artistic creations, or the spud suppliers?

Either way, our wages are getting screwed up 

you are the spud supplier, the chefs are the staff who are still getting paid , some of these are also spud suppliers who only supply Chez Stock and some are diners who bring a bunch of friends with them to eat and introduce others to eat there .....

...and the diners used to get a free meal for introducing friends, now they've got to fill out impossible forms which makes it nearly impossible to get the free meal...whereas the restaurants just down the road make it quite easy

Also...And let me add. A nice well exposed pretty shot of a mountain in arizona does not need a property release. Thats off the chart silly.

probably a mis click?

I love the Scottish single malts from Islay: Laphroaig, Ardbeg, Lagavulin etc. Smoke and peat is my thing
I really can't understand people that think something like Jack Daniels tastes good.

Completely agree, especially Laphroaig.

Quote from: Pixart on August 31, 2011, 13:30

I don't even know what they pay for Thinkstock downloads.  Was it .25 or is it even lower than that now?

It went up to .28 a few months back.  The tactic of starving them for content forced them to up royalties.  Now that all independents are pushed into the PP that may change though.   

that was my very first thought, they can now push it back down and almost nobody will withdraw their files as it'll mean taking them off IS too

someone say that this best match are showing mostly non exclusive content....

Well that would be a welcome change

Having not uploaded for a while I was pleasantly surprised that most of my last batch made it through - after reading this thread I fully expected 100% rejection.  Uploading at the weekend seems to be the way to go

I prefer this one

Quote from: briciola on May 05, 2011, 05:28

I wouldn't have thought this was allowed?

Why? They're clearly two different photos, same theme but that's not a problem.

Just wondered, being more or less a newbie.  It just seemed a bit off to me that somebody creates a great seller and within a few months somebody else creates a very, very similar photo...it must be frustrating for the likes of Yuri and Sean if this is ok.

Quote from: gclk on April 12, 2011, 07:02

Mine too.  I'm not an illustrator but have been following the thread closely because decisions made about vector Vetta could affect a wider net of contributors.

By giving illustrators some kind of 'non permanent %ge boost', iStock will presumably be trying to get the critical mass of illustrators to sign up to Vetta, while avoiding pressure to give any concessions to photographers.

On a side note, I got a Vetta EL today.  Received $61.60 for an EL which cost the customer 150 credits, or $220 in this case.  Hope iStock finds their $158.40 (72% share) from the EL to be sustainable.  At the old rate of 40% + 10% bonus, I would have been paid $110 for the EL sale at the same price.

The amount of extra income that iStock is be taking from Vetta photo sales alone, since they slashed royalties last September must be mind boggling.

"... but money isn't what keeps you coming here."

Imagine how bad it might've been if JJRD wasn't out there putting his ass on the line for all you exclusives 

@SNP -  "(...that it doesn't matter if Kelly is a nice guy)....yes, in fact it does. ethical people are usually ethical in all aspects of their lives. conversely unscrupulous people are unscrupulous in most areas of their lives"

Are you really saying what I've understood, that Kelly is "an ethical guy"  Where's the ethics in telling people that have just potentially lost tons of money that they should be saying thanks instead of lamenting their loss?  Or the ethics in screwing photogs while he sits raking in the millions?  Or in saying to distraught people whose livelihood depend on this that they'll open a discussion, only to ignore thousands of posts in the thread?  You really have your head right up your arse.

Opinions on the IQ on the 5D vs. 550D (or cameras with same sensors) as related to microstock? Would the 550D be able to produce good quality files on any ISO's higher than 100 without having to use noise-reducing editing software?

I haven't shot with the 550d, but for the ISO question, I have shots accepted on IStock at 1600 (with very little post) with a 5DII, I can't imagine they'd have been accepted at that ISO on a 550? 

It's hilarious that some people think it is a bug or a "glitch" and apparently think iS wouldn't do that sort of thing on purpose. They must be living in Cloudcuckooland. 

yep, likely the same people that believe it must take months and months worth of development to fix the vetta/agency can't be excluded "glitch"

Quote from: Brandon Seidel on February 14, 2011, 17:35

Pulling links that point to the big guys (like iS and FT) will not hurt them that much...

Maybe so, but I sent at least 20 new members and customers to iStock from links on my site. I have deleted those links. Every little bit hurts.

And I wonder: Are the anonymous IS cheerleaders here rudely deriding the OP's suggestions because they won't work, or because they might work? 

I think small efforts could eventually have an impact.  More through blog posts, twitter, etc. than removing links I think though.
The theory goes that somebody getting bad customer service is likely to tell 14 people, whereas they might not tell anybody about good service.  I work for a very large company which has an informal intranet which everybody reads, including marketing people....there's also a photography area.  For a fact if the chance arises I'll be nothing but negative about IStock and Fotolia.  Bad news spreads.  And I, for one, will do my little bit.