OK, if there HAVE to be categories

-Travel
-Landscape (or Rural Places as opposed to Cities/Places)

are still missing.


How's movie, Leo?

Family's getting ready to watch it now!

I'll add those, thank you.

Categories are boring, useless, redundant... and totally optional. I just added them for anyone who experiences OCD. Oh, and SEO. They are not required. I'm not mean.

ps - they can be deleted too .

...

- I wouldn't want to "Sell the Rights" at all. Will there be an option to cut out this section?

Yes, the whole point of this license plugin is to add and subtract sections per image, or just set site defaults the way you want them.

- We all need back-links to our photo sites badly for promotion and google search ranking. That is why I much like the Photocase standard license that requires copyright credit/ link no matter what. An additional (extended) license can then be purchased optionally that would allow usage without any copyright credit. It'd be what Photocase calls an "Omit Citation License" (see http://www.photocase.com/faq?s1=1786). What do you think?

Yes, perfectly possible to put a "backlink required" if you choose. Or some sort of credit. Also a certain guy of a certain agency (oooo the mystery!) contacted me to help make symbiostock compatible with his really really big search engine. So for a monthly fee it looks like you get more promo options. Thats unrelated to me though, other than making the site compatible.

A quick FWIW - requiring credit/backlink with the standard license is a total nightmare for designers and is impractical for many uses. Photocase requiring $25 to use an image uncredited (like in a collage, etc...) ensures that most of the users violate the license. I've only see free stock sites use this ploy to get some payback for the image use, and as a designer for 20 plus years, I've never worked with a photo that demanded this.

To keep this mildly on topic, I've always thought that the best way to do this would be to offer a discount if someone was going to link back to your site (in other words, help you with your SEO), which would be well worth it.

Really looking forward to this!

I always thought that customers would pay higher prices if they were reminded of the license before download. Many customers download an image as subscription or single download when in reality they need and would easily pay for Extended license if they were asked / reminded of the terms right before the image download. And after they have purchased the image they don't bother or give much thought to the proper license. In a way it doesn't feel like cheating to customers to use an image past the maximum reproduction limits or display it full size on their website. When they have already payed for it they feel they can use the image as they please.

For example i suggest that when someone adds an image to his basket on the download page i think it would help to put a short disclaimer about the max. reproduction they are allowed under this license etc and they need to check and the according box. Also they could be given a link and encouragement of sorts to upgrade their download to Extended.

"Upon your payment of the purchase price for the Image"

Once you have completed payment for the license to use the content ...

Well, there's plenty of time on this thread. I'm writing software, not licenses. I did want to initiate something though so that when this is available people don't have to say "Yay! Time to sell images" and then... "Oh wait...don't I need some sort of license?"

Even if there's some extremely simple contract I'm cool with it. I just can't release this thing without something like that...it would be like making the cart without any paypal IPN to complete the sale...

This draft was actually given to me by someone who wants to remain anonymous.

Actually my whole incentive here is more of a scientific one, though it might sound strange. I'm hoping the licensing system (if I do provide any) reflects that "symbiosis" mindset.

I'm writing software, not licenses.

While I totally understand your remark, Leo, I still think even the best imaginable software won't help us much selling our stuff if we screw up on this license business. And as far as I can see this will somehow affect the actual software coding (at least a bit).

Can I just say here that I think it would be wise for everyone to use the same contract.

I think the same solid contract would be best. If anyone wants to add or subtract, they should think hard about why.

I am with you on this, travel-light, it would be best for the buyer's experience. However, can we really all agree on one solid license agreement? Mostly lurking on MSG discussions for almost 3 years now, I'd be hard pressed being hopeful here.
So, may be it is better we aim lower for one license agreement with the least necessary number of options every symbiote can decide to switch on or off. Is that would you have in mind, Leo, when saying

I'm hoping the licensing system (if I do provide any) reflects that "symbiosis" mindset.

?

I 100% agree that discounting for a credit/backlink requirement standard license might fly much better than an (overly) expensive sort of extended license that allows for not crediting/backlinking. Photocase, however, seems to disagree, probably for good reasons. It might as well just depend on the type of images/media you are selling. - In any case we should have a license that allows for two levels of standard licensing (with and without credit/backlink requirement) at least as an option.

Earlier in this thread offering RM license has been discussed. I definitely would like to have that on my site and generally on Symbiostock, again, at least as an option.

So I would like to remind everyone here about travel-light's (?) earlier post:

Leo, the license itself is not the complicated bit, it's the pricing. The Stock Artists Alliance have developed a simplified pricing system, which would be the logical way to go. See http://www.stockartistsalliance.org/pluspacks/index.htm for details.

The calculator code is open source, and could be packaged as an optional WordPress plugin.

PicturEngine have implemented this, and it's more straightforward to use than, say, the Alamy or Getty systems.

I think this could be an elegant solution.

I always thought that customers would pay higher prices if they were reminded of the license before download. Many customers download an image as subscription or single download when in reality they need and would easily pay for Extended license if they were asked / reminded of the terms right before the image download. And after they have purchased the image they don't bother or give much thought to the proper license. In a way it doesn't feel like cheating to customers to use an image past the maximum reproduction limits or display it full size on their website. When they have already payed for it they feel they can use the image as they please.

For example i suggest that when someone adds an image to his basket on the download page i think it would help to put a short disclaimer about the max. reproduction they are allowed under this license etc and they need to check and the according box. Also they could be given a link and encouragement of sorts to upgrade their download to Extended.

I think that's probably true and Symbiotes should be given at least an option to try this. Hopefully with some sort of shortform license in layman's terms (with link to the full thing talking about "Applicable Law" and such uncool stuff). We could emphasize the "fair trade" character of Symbiostock in the same place.

Here's another idea we should think about at least as an option. Look at www.terragalleria.com, which is the photo selling site of QT Luong who is (according to John Lund) the most successful self-hosting, self-selling photographer. He also sells a special subscription for using his images as computer wallpapers http://www.terragalleria.com/wallpaper-pictures.html.

BTW, look at the last item in his list of selling points:
"The satisfaction of supporting the arts, since all the proceeds are used to support the effort of the photographer, who has already brought to you valuable free contents in a 100% advertising-free format."

Does it work (for him)? I don't know but I'd like to have at least the option to try something like this.

Backlinks! Yes, its as good as currency...but there are plenty of ways to do this... maybe something like this will be a future symbiostock feature:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/clip-art-illustration-search-and-insert/

Made by a guy you already know

   

Are you already using this plugin on your web site, Leo? How does it work for you?

...

I'm going to go ahead and start coding this in as something that generates on Install. I can easily change things as changes are agreed on.

Looking forward to it.  Can't be long now!

Me too and I am total awe of your abilities.