Centrex joint venture deal completed
Getty to Offer Flickr Images for Sale
Image by Thomas Hawk
Yahoo! Inc. – Getty Images and Flickr Announce Exclusive Partnership to Offer New Collection of Creative Imagery Getty Images and Yahoo today announced a partnership which will allow Getty Images to begin marketing select images that Flickr users upload online.
"We are excited and proud to be partnering with Flickr to offer our customers even more choice for their projects. Our customers will be able to select and use the best imagery from a fresh collection of high-quality images chosen by us from Flickr’s diverse and prolific community," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "Flickr is the ideal partner as we continue to move the imagery industry forward by offering the broadest range of high quality digital content to our customers."
Although the press release issued on the new joint venture doesn’t spell out many of the details of the program, an article over at CNET provides more information as does an article over at the Seattlepi.
According to CNET, photographers interested in participating in the new Flickr collection will "have to simply wait to be contacted."
The Seattlepi reports that, "Flickr users will be able to declare whether they want their images considered for commercial use. Klein said Getty’s customers will likely prefer scenic or creative images, not those of news events." the Seattlepi adds:
"Flickr users, many of whom are amateurs, will be paid in the same manner as professionals if their images are used commercially. Getty customers usually pay between and 0,000 for an image, depending on how freely they may use it. Photographers receive 30 percent to 40 percent of the licensing fee if the customer’s rights to use the image are limited in scope or time, or 20 percent if the image may be used with fewer restrictions."
Personally I think that this partnership is a very promising development, but I’m reserving judgment on its merits until I see more how the deal will actually play out.
What surprises me most about this deal is that in the past Getty has seemed to make a very strong distinction between their "Pro" quality Getty Images photographs, which represents their bread and butter business, vs. "amateur" images which have largely been pushed towards their microstock offering iStockphoto.
iStockphoto sells images for much less than Getty’s traditional stock photography business, typically marketing images at , and per image.
It would appear that with this new offering, Getty is going to treat at least some of Flickr’s images as they would their own "Pro" photographer imagery. My own expectation would be that current Getty "Pros" are probably none too happy about having a new horde of "amateurs" jointing their ranks and competing with their own image sales.
At the same point there is simply no denying the quality of imagery that many of these so called amateurs are posting to Flickr, nor the breadth of photography that has been accumulated, organized and ranked.
It will be interesting to see how Getty balances out this conflict and whether or not their new "Flickr Collection" will receive the same marketing emphasis as their own Pro photography collection.
Earlier this year in February when I published an article about what a Microsoft buyout of Yahoo might mean for photography, I mentioned that with Microsoft as the new owner of Flickr that they could possibly use the relationship with Bill Gates 100% owned Corbis, Getty’s largest competitor, to build a stock component to Flickr.
Although this relationship will probably not be significant from an economic standpoint in the short term for either Yahoo or Getty, it is hugely important from a strategic standpoint.
At present, in Flickr, Yahoo owns the largest organized and ranked collection of imagery in the world. By opening up access to much of this collection, Getty stands to dramatically improve image search for their buyers. Whether or not those buyers buy Flickr images or other Getty images this partnership should still create a far more meaningful stock search experience on Getty vs. #2 Corbis and other competitors.
Although Getty’s payout to Pros in the 20-40% range may seem low, with Getty’s marketing muscle in this space and their ability to correctly price imagery at the Pro level this may represent a lucrative new source of income for many Flickr photographers.
The big question though is how seriously Getty will market this collection.
On a personal level I’m very interested in participating in this new partnership and will be blogging about it much more in the future.
More information from the New York Times here. There is also an interview with Getty’s Jonathan Klein and Flickr Chief Kakul Srivastava here.
Flickr has an FAQ up on the new program here as well as a topic on the subject in their help forum here. According to Flickr Community Manager Heather Champ, today’s partnership announcement really is just an announcement that Flickr and Getty have "started dating," with more information coming out, "as we move forward with the development of the platform, etc."
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they took your idea TH!
looking forward to hearing more and possibly joining into this myself..thanks for sharing.
This is cool. Great for exposure.
We’ll see how far they go on the first date and if Getty, like Cameron in "Ferris Bueller", will "marry the first girl he lays."
wow!…this is great news
I’ve been wondering why Getty wasn’t interested in Flick images long back…looks like its time for amateurs and pros on flickr to put their talent to some commercial use!
…keep us informed
ah, the imagery advancements!
you might be able to quit your day job!
: )
very very interesting!
holy crime. this is interesting…
Wow, that’s big news, a huge market is comming…
I have been waiting for this for some time now, finally. Thanks TH.
Hmmm, I have heard about legislation stating that any image emailed or posted to the web needs to have a registered copyright or it becomes public domain… have you heard about this? Could this deal be a positioning maneuver to take advantage of that pending legislation? Jennifer Esperanza wrote about it a few months back.
~Jess
I guess this makes tagging all that more important, doesn’t it, so that people can actually find the gold nuggets? I wonder if certain corporate clients favor one agency over the other….
≈ good to know.. lots to think about ≈
http://www.stockphototalk.com/phototalk/2008/07/getty_flickr.html
Good to hear this.
=
I as a general rule tag my more recent stuff.
Wouldn’t Ad Agency art directors seeking a certain image make use of Flickr directly… just as they do with a stock agency such as Getty?
As a photographer, I’ve had reputable paying clients contact me though my website portfolios (book covers / magazines) but when it comes to images I put up on Flickr, so far only companies and NGOs looking for freebies have contacted me… if Getty is willing to pay professional rates to Flickr photographers, that’s great!
It’s about time that Flickr and Getty decided to do that. This will be to the benefit of both organizations and help photographers worldwide. Thanks for sharing this interesting information.
I cant believe how naive you all are this is not good news for photography. Getty is already to dominant in image sales and under-minds all those trying to make it as professional photographers. No industry is good with out competition and Getty is just doing what it does best buying up all competition or future competition so it can control the market.
Those peoples images that are not up to scratch wont get used and those whos images which are good will sell but guess what, when your trying to make the step to making a living getting commissions for magazines etc you wont as they will go to Getty and get the images cheaper.
Im not getting at Getty as they are a business plain and simple but please realize if you are serious about taking photos and do want to have a career one day this is not good news for you.
Also what’s al this "its great exposure" " bring on the money attitude etc, only if you images gets used out of the thousands and thousands and Im sure Getty will get a credit before you do. I really cant believe how you all think have any of you worked on picture desks or at magazines? And also the comment of. As I said before IM not shocked or annoyed at Getty but really cant get over how tunnel visioned you guys are and dont see the bigger long term effect this will have help destroy an industry you all seem so keen to get into.
I’ve watched work I used to get as a freelancer go to Getty and like agencies for years now- it’s the reality of the business.
Yeah but we dont have to roll over and accept it.
Photographers should stick to their guns keep their copyright. Also I bet if your image does get used they wont credit the photographer the only credit with be GETTY. Theres your exposure, none.
Young photographers need to know the long term effects of who and what certain deals mean for the whole industry and this is an example of it. We need to be independent as much as we can to keep the industry alive.
I’ve been shooting since 1976 and I’ve never given up my copyright to any client- with the exception of the odd wedding, and the client then pays for the exclusive right. Retaining my copyright is the reason i’ve never tried to go on staff at a newspaper, as that requires relinquishing your negatives (in the past, before digital) and all rights.
Nevertheless, as of late magazines i’ve worked for believe that once assigned, they can recycle your images to other publications for a fraction of the original payment- ie. 5% of, say, $250. , and republish photos from the same photo session indefinitely for unrelated articles, for no further payment. If you complain, you are blacklisted. I’ve tried to get around it by offering them only a few images for an assignment rather than the entire digital file, but it hasn’t made me popular.
They don’t play that game with stock agencies- there, it is very clear that it is one time usage they are paying for and the magazines abide to it. It is only freelancers who are getting shafted.
"While visons of sugar plums danced in their heads.."
i was once a customer of getty images. i licensed many of their images for my professional work. as many designers know, getty images web-crawler bots have been scouring the web comparing every image they find with the ones in their collections and sending threatening letters to web masters demanding proof of purchase or pay an exorbitant fine. clients i worked for years ago are getting these letters and calling me in a panic asking me to provide reciepts for jobs i did 6, 7 years ago.
i have vowed never to work with a getty image again and i refuse to let getty images benefit from my work. getty is a gigantic corporate bully.
Great idea!! Congratulations!
B
Great idea!! Congratulations!
palash khan
http://www.palashkhan.com
xyz
Dhoni
http://www.creativepro.com/article/flickr-images-you-can-use-wit...
http://www.gettyimages.com/Creative/Frontdoor/Flickr?isource=dir...
Nice collection!
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Nice idea, I want to join this group…. Put my pictures on the Getty Images library.
Nice idea indeed<!
It’s an interesting idea but being familiar with how Getty operates I have a feeling that this a ploy to use very talented photographers who are not familiar with stock photography and what their talent and images are truly worth and get rich off of them with no commitment to them. Many people will jump on board because they are "amateurs" who are just so flattered that Getty wants their images…
It makes me sad to see non-talented corporations make a killing off of the talent of artists whether it be music or photography or anything else…
C’est la vie …that’s capitalism…
I’ll cross my fingers and hope they like some of my photos!
Excellent initiative.
I want to participate.
I wonder if this will enable Getty to manipulate amateur photographers. I dont see them paying any flickr user "top dollar". It may start headstrong but over a little time people will see Getty back down. As if pro photographers didnt have it hard enough in an already cut throat business. I say us amateurs should have to go the long way around. I really think Getty is just going to try and screw the talented amateurs(not me. I am bad). I agree with what wilrob7 says. Another thing I noticed is that writers pretty much have to have their own damned lawyers for all of this legal stuff. Is it the same with pro photographers? Young people like me who want to make a "living" of photography tend to think that it is pointless. Everyone I talk to says there is no money in photography unless you sign to a firm or something. With the digital age and the availability of great moderately priced cameras companies like Getty will "bastardize" the photo industry (or so I understand). Things like this make young "photographers" like me worry that I am interested in the wrong line of work. I want to enjoy what I do but I dont want to be dirt poor because some corporate image harvesting people are going to turn around and buy a photo from an amateur who has no interest in making a living from their work. The equivalent of "cheap labor". Somebody on flickr sells a photo for five cents they are happy. "Hey I made money and I didnt have to do anything!" It isnt their fault. It is Gettys. In my own opinion. Am I wrong? I just read Lydia Goolia’s post..lol! Thats what I mean in less words. She said it better.
Hi, I’m an admin for a group called My Fav Photo’s, and we’d love to have this added to the group!
I heard about GETTY months ago & got real excited! I also read it in one of my Photography mags. I am hopeful that it will broaden the horizon for us who really work hard & how the mark has changed so much that this is a way to sell our work that haven’t made a solid business yet on our own. We have the chose of what to sell… So it’s not like just giving all of our work away for nothing. Most of my stuff I have private just for that reason. But I think if this takes off the way this are hoping it will be a good ave….. I can’t wait til I can join! Til then enjoy what we have:-)
A magazine I used to get work with (but no more) told me recently that I should forget freelance and just sign up with Getty- according to this photo editor, events like TIFF aren’t even giving proper access to accredited photographers from magazines any more- only the wire service photographers have that privilege. Sad.
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NiCe
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comment me
Don’t see,,!
Googling "Getty Images late payments" and came across this. I´ve followed your blog and posts for a while Thomas.. I am curious how many photographers have been waiting for almost a year to receive outstanding payements? I wonder if it is because I am out of the US…
But I"m not sure. I’ve found the payouts very timely.
You might want to try posting this question in the contributor’s group where I’m sure someone from Getty would either answer it or fix it for you.
It makes a lot of sense for these two players to get together. However, it needn’t have been getty. Yahoo would have done well to start their own stock photos site many years ago shortly after they acquired flickr and then they could have piped some flickr into it the same way getty is doing now.
Getty’s commission does seem hefty even if they do have good marketing and automatic pricing. I only decided to dip my foot into stock photography recently, but I understand it is a long term thing. I also decided to try Alamy. Time will tell if even any of them is even worth the effort.
I went into getty and searched for surfing only to find some pretty horrid editorial shots by an official photographer of a prominent organization. Yet there they are, a Getty contributer with all these so-called ammeters begging to be picked up – if for no other reason than status. In principle, I think its great to see that Getty is opening up opportunities in favor of prejudice against photographers who don’t pass themselves off as professionals.
Getty is the McDonalds of photography. If I can sell 20 photo for $40 dollars with Getty or 1 photo for $400 dollars on my web site. I would choose $40 with Getty going to make more money in the end. But they better pay a decent price for the photos.
It’s great initiative from Getty. I want sell my pictures, I decide to open new Flickr account only to show my commercial pictures.
For amateur photographers this may seem like a sweet deal and nice little bonus, but the 30 or 40% commission being offered by Getty is low for an agency sale. It smacks of Getty taking advantage of people who don’t know better.
I get 50% on sales from my agencies and 80% form some others like Photographer Direct. Getty is actually offering to rip people off. Yes they have a routes to market, but that alone does not justify their huge cut.