Now might be a lovely time to re-read their blog post about their sumptuous new headquarters in the Empire State building



I encourage anyone's social media shaming of these greedy jerks to go heavy on the contrast between their luxury real estate in one of the world's most expensive markets and how they're trying to squeeze the small businesses who supply them. During a pandemic no less - to add a rich layer of icing on the cake!

Do a search for #ShutterstockESB on twitter to see the "Silicon Alley" elite at play in their new space... Especially sickening in light of the new royalty scheme

Something like this does not come out of the company without the top management approving it. This is not done solely by the new CEO. Jon has to be aware and have approved this move.
If i was SS, i would be terrified if the following happens:
-no new material is uploaded
-contributors leave
-bad publicity resulting in share price drop which in turn triggers owners dumping shares
-smaller insignificant ordinary joe�s starting debate and grouping together to make a move (thats you and me)
-competitors receive new material that is top notch quality
-competitors jump on and sweeten the deal for the fleeing contributors
-Competitors advertise on the loss of SS, which then triggers more of the bad publicity...
-this does not go unnoticed and we keep the pressure on for as long as it takes! The ones that stick and do not leave. Remember, its our livelihood we are discussing here. You cannot stay passive. If you do, you deserve the next wave of 0.01$ per license. I quit iStock when i saw 0.02$/download.
-all of us start fueling the discussions on all the different forums/groups/memberships where we are part of...
-after a while we come together and make our presence (or even better) absence noticed
-Form some sort of grouping which will have some very basic rules like minimum fee if you want our assets in your offer
-journalists start writing on the subject that contributors are getting together and debating how to respond not only to SS latest move, but to all iStock�s and iStock�s 2.0 alike in the future with immediate move against the greedy SS. This will trigger even more escaping from the boat that is sinking.
-photography/video/illustrations forums need to burn from debates right now!
-marketing agencies need to notice that for fresh/relevant/top notch new material they need to look elsewhere from IStock 2.0
-their most cherished unique selling proposition, the monthly fee and download per day is gone, dead. This was what made them since it was tailored to agency�s needs. They have no USP anymore apart of the wast library of our assets. In the library, they are not alone. They are not in line with what the agencies or the wast majority of buyers (small bloggers) need. This move is to become relevant, which is ok, but not without a shared burden. Non of us will disagree if they transform the model so that we and SS share the %. The greedy part, the one sided devaluation is what wrong in this.
-we continue with our pressure, even a passive will do, remember mahatma gandi, which will force them to notice us. I do not wish them bad, they are not the enemy, their lack of visionary skills and commitment to long term mutual success is the enemy. I do not wish them bankruptcy, but their move is on a sure path for that. Lets not punish them on the weaknesses we all posses. Lets guide them before we separate our paths.
-after a while this becomes nightmare for them forcing them to back their decision. Can you imagine our satisfaction when this occurs. To be honest, for DPC initiative i supported with about 10-20% of my portfolio deletion. I was very proud when fotolia backed from their plan. If this succeeds, you will all be part of the Honored contributor appreciation 2.0. Let then some peanut agency come and propose a scheme like this. If we fail, brace yourselves for the iStock 3.0, then 4.0 and so on. You will then someday be at a bar remembering the days when you were living out of your creativity.
-they have lost a great deal of credibility here. There are the silent contributors which will vanish and their content will not be present due to lack of sustainability of the model. Regaining this credibility will take time and effort. And we have good memory and are willing to forgive, not forget. Say this was kelly�s initiative and she is fired. We apologize for this and return to normal.

Other ideas are more than welcome.

Let�s do all this and watch what happens. Anyway, its covid time and we are socially active.

Ss please reverse this bad decision and let us all focus on creating top content which we will all be proud of. Lets focus on the future together. We cannot be pushed aside and be expected to continue business as usual. We cannot survive with lower incomes, its difficult enough as it is already. If we are gone, the factories will impose stricter commissions in the future and you will be the one left out dry. Help us to help you achieve the growth you hired the new ceo for. This is done with strong partnership behavior, not slave-master relationship. We are not able to continue and we will weather away to another agency which threats contributor honestly.

Sorry for the long text, hope is not worthless

Best regards from eastern Europe, Skopje, Macedonia