MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: SME on November 25, 2014, 18:13
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Has anyone ever experienced, or know of anyone who has experienced this? I am just wondering. It has not happened to me but as I am going to be investing more into my microstock efforts, I want to just investigate if there is any possibility of this happening, thanks.
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Always a possibility if you violate the terms of service. Upload stolen work for example.
Other than that why would they close your account?
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Always a possibility if you violate the terms of service. Upload stolen work for example.
Other than that why would they close your account?
Being domiciled in Iran, probably.
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Upload only your work and you will be fine. Accounts get closed because some people steal others' work and call it their own. Those who do that deserve to be booted. SS has no exclusivity so you shouldn't have to worry about screwing yourself by uploading elsewhere. If you upload to, say, Istock as an exclusive and also upload to other agencies you will get booted from IS if you get caught, but SS turn a blind eye to that since you have not broken any of their TOS. I don't know of anyone who has been booted from SS due to this. So my advice is to keep your work your own, keep all original files backed up in case someone steals YOUR images and claims that you are stealing theirs. Some agencies do overreact like FOTOLIA. Anyway, to keep this on topic:
1. Upload ONLY YOUR WORK
2. Keep all of your ORIGINAL RAW files (if you are shooting RAW) as evidence of image ownership.
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Thanks for the info thus far. Seems as long as you're operating straight, they will treat you straight. So no one has heard of anyone being booted for no real reason?
I know it seems like a silly question, but I come from an industry where such things do happen when there is no contract.
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SS isn`t FT :)
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Thanks for the info thus far. Seems as long as you're operating straight, they will treat you straight. So no one has heard of anyone being booted for no real reason?
I know it seems like a silly question, but I come from an industry where such things do happen when there is no contract.
I haven't heard of that happening with them. I would also say that in as much as possible be reasonably respectful when you speak about an agency. I think SS has shown a strong resolve with some of the posts in here and I TOTALLY commend them for that. However, agencies like FOTOLIA WILL boot you if you speak poorly of them. While they are an agency known for their unfair (and I am being nice here) business practices, they don't like to be criticized and will close your account for no reason other than they can't take the heat. I assume if you are going to go with SS that you'd also upload to other micros, that's why I forewarn you on this.
One last thing. I would read their TOS or at least breeze through them to see the do's and don'ts. For example, if an image is rejected and you resubmit it without a note informing the inspector it is a resubmit, you can be cited. This means you could get a formal warning on your account. Three warnings and you are out. I have one warning for bickering in a thread.....I told some dude that I thought he might wake up with Liberace on New Years Day and that's all it took for a forum ban and an account warning. I've been squeaky clean ever since. Also, SS does not like contributors discussing royalty specifics in forums. You need to be relatively generic in your posts. I suppose that you could get a warning for that, too, but I don't know of anyone who has.
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SS isn`t FT :)
See above post.
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SS isn`t FT :)
Or DP
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Thanks Mantis. I forgot about the income specifics thing and although I always do note that it is a resubmission, I never fully realized that could be taken seriously not to. Thanks a lot.
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Never leave any raster layers in EPS files when uploading, regardless of whether they're related to the vector itself or not.
I know a contributor who got banned for that without a chance to even discuss it.
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I know one spanish person with photos of gift box images with "ferrero Moncheris Desingn" who Shutter close his account an get his money.
He take make first and last mistake an in one day his account was closed... did not act in bad faith but forget erase original box design
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I know one spanish person with photos of gift box images with "ferrero Moncheris Desingn" who Shutter close his account an get his money.
He take make first and last mistake an in one day his account was closed... did not act in bad faith but forget erase original box design
So there are a couple of things going on here.
1. SS reviewers don't catch every copyright. How can they?
2. You say what he/she shot. How many other copyright designs did this person have. I suspect there is more going on here than one image that squeaked by. Perhaps he was knowingly and intentionally trying to pepper his/her work with copyrighted material and if so that is a violation of TOS
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he only was a newbie... a little fish... IKEA furniture (uncle Yuri) or wall papers mosaics are registered with someone and do not close the account for this designs.
Other contributor who sold designs with pictures of other contributors but it was more important was treated better
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I know one spanish person with photos of gift box images with "ferrero Moncheris Desingn" who Shutter close his account an get his money.
He take make first and last mistake an in one day his account was closed... did not act in bad faith but forget erase original box design
"ferrero Moncheris Desingn" as editorial is allowed i thought?
Or not?
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Surprising they'd close an account for that rather than just reject the photo. I uploaded a scene of the Baltimore skyline as commercial earlier this year and while the logos on the buildings shouldn't be an issue since it was a skyline and not focusing on a particular building (at least here in NY - who knows worldwide, I guess), they've gotten more cautious but they rejected it with a note that I could resubmit if I removed the logos, so I did and they were accepted and have been selling.
I've also forgotten to tick "illustration" sometimes and they reject with a note that I need to resubmit as an illustration.
I've always found they're very helpful with these kinds of issues and early on they even used to correct the mistakes for you. Given the huge volume of submissions, they seem to really take time with the rejections when you can correct it and resubmit. Maybe they're easier on you if you're a longtime contributor with a good track record? I've been with them for ages, but have a small port, don't contribute that much, but they're always very helpful.
I do try to add a note for the reviewer if it's something they might have an issue with, e.g. if it's a closed editorial event, I'll note that I had a press pass, or if it's an illustration based on one of my photos, I'll note that and offer to upload the original or point to it in my portfolio if it's already there.
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stealing other ppl's work is definitely the fastest way. using them as a whole or composite into your own work.
i remember also having read that consistenly getting rejections could be another one.
re-submitting a previously rejected image is yet another .
as already mentioned, why would any agency want to lose you? not unless u are not making $ for them.
the point re uncle yuri, IKEA,etc.. may be true, may not. but it's yes, then the previous point i made (if u make $ for them) holds even more water than ever.
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There are much more reasons to get booted.
If you execute a right as a photographer you will very soon get a blackmail from shutterstocks "compliance-department" which is threating you with getting booted if you still try to protect your rights.
SS policy against contributors is:
"Shut up, hold still, get milked and if you ever try to stand up for you rights we kick your ass".
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There are much more reasons to get booted.
If you execute a right as a photographer you will very soon get a blackmail from shutterstocks "compliance-department" which is threating you with getting booted if you still try to protect your rights.
SS policy against contributors is:
"Shut up, hold still, get milked and if you ever try to stand up for you rights we kick your ass".
Blackmail? I want details, not innuendo. Tell your story if you have one, but I doubt you do.
This is so far from the Shutterstock I've dealt with for the past ten years that I don't believe it for a second. I've seen Shutterstock act with both deliberation and patience, even under extreme provocation. They have always acted in the interests of their business, including treating its suppliers and customers consistently and with fairness. If you know otherwise, don't just make unsubstantiated accusations. Back it up with facts.
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Agree with disorderly. Whatever niggles folks may have from time to time SS is far and away the most professional agency out there.
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Whatever niggles folks may have from time to time SS is far and away the most professional agency out there.
Totally agree.
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@disorderly @roede-orm
just do a selftest
Roede-Orm, you are european, right?
And do you sell also over other agencies?
Do these other agencies ask for a credit like "[email protected]" or something similar?
These three things are the requrements to make a sucessfull self test.
If you dare to do one, let me know and i will tell you what to do.
Then you will have the proof very soon ....
Do you think i am so stupid to give SS the chance to check my identity if they threatened me several times with getting booted if i dont shut up and still work on their "cotton-fields" for peanuts?
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@disorderly @roede-orm
just do a selftest
Roede-Orm, you are european, right?
And do you sell also over other agencies?
Do these other agencies ask for a credit like "[email protected]" or something similar?
These three things are the requrements to make a sucessfull self test.
If you dare to do one, let me know and i will tell you what to do.
Then you will have the proof very soon ....
Do you think i am so stupid to give SS the chance to check my identity if they threatened me several times with getting booted if i dont shut up and still work on their "cotton-fields" for peanuts?
Sounds like you need to avoid SS at all costs then.
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Dont invest money until you have 500 images online, then invest little money , till 1000 images, you will see i you want to work further, a lot of people stop.
Has anyone ever experienced, or know of anyone who has experienced this? I am just wondering. It has not happened to me but as I am going to be investing more into my microstock efforts, I want to just investigate if there is any possibility of this happening, thanks.
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SS has always dealt with me professionally - they take their contributors - small or large - seriously. (Yes, they license our work for peanuts but that's they deal we agreed to up front and those peanuts do add up). They run their business like a business, and they are growing and are the strongest of the micro sites so if you're going to shoot for the micros, they should be on your list of agencies.
If you're selling on SS and uploading properly, I wouldn't worry about them closing your account.
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@disorderly @roede-orm
just do a selftest
Roede-Orm, you are european, right?
And do you sell also over other agencies?
Do these other agencies ask for a credit like "[email protected]" or something similar?
These three things are the requrements to make a sucessfull self test.
If you dare to do one, let me know and i will tell you what to do.
Then you will have the proof very soon ....
Do you think i am so stupid to give SS the chance to check my identity if they threatened me several times with getting booted if i dont shut up and still work on their "cotton-fields" for peanuts?
I have very different experiences with Shutterstock. Once, three years ago, SS admonished me that I should choose the keywords more carefully. The mail was formulated very friendly. Yes, they pay peanuts, but often (in my case) even ELs. At the end of the month they pay me more than any other agency.
Really, I do not understand your problem with Shutterstock. And no one is forced to deal with Shutterstock.
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No I don't know anyplace that asks for a credit line that includes my contact email address. I suspect it's against the rules on every one of them and they would forbid it. Unless that's not what you meant for the self test? I don't understand?
What did you do that SS asked you to stop doing? That would be more useful than calling them names or labeling their site as "cotton-fields".
You aren't a slave and they aren't holding your work hostage? Right?
So explain that self test thing better, I'll try it.
@disorderly @roede-orm
just do a selftest
Roede-Orm, you are european, right?
And do you sell also over other agencies?
Do these other agencies ask for a credit like "[email protected]" or something similar?
These three things are the requrements to make a sucessfull self test.
If you dare to do one, let me know and i will tell you what to do.
Then you will have the proof very soon ....
Do you think i am so stupid to give SS the chance to check my identity if they threatened me several times with getting booted if i dont shut up and still work on their "cotton-fields" for peanuts?