License abuse by microstock customers

[turtleman]

You log into your microstock account and find out that some of your images have been sold. Some time later you spot your own pictures on the Web/in a magazine/etc. How do you make sure that the webmaster/editor/... really purchased a license (instead of copying it from a true licensee/out-cropping watermarks/...)?

Suppose that you've sold both standard royalty free and extended/rights managed licenses. Given the strict privacy policy of stock agencies you have no easy way of finding out whether a (cheaper) standard license has been exploited beyond its restrictions.

[Jim Poor]

Interesting. Just another reason I don't do microstock..

[andyw]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Interesting. Just another reason I don't do microstock..

I second that.

[andyw]

Originally Posted by turtleman

You log into your microstock account and find out that some of your images have been sold. Some time later you spot your own pictures on the Web/in a magazine/etc. How do you make sure that the webmaster/editor/... really purchased a license (instead of copying it from a true licensee/out-cropping watermarks/...)?

Suppose that you've sold both standard royalty free and extended/rights managed licenses. Given the strict privacy policy of stock agencies you have no easy way of finding out whether a (cheaper) standard license has been exploited beyond its restrictions.

It can also happen with "proper" stock images as well though.

Unless your agency supplies you with ALL details of sales then you have little or no chance of ever finding out except by accident.

Microstock is worse though because the people that tend to use them are individuals or small companies and have less qualms about "sharing" the images or going against the terms.
Many of the buyers think they are buying the copyright and are then free to do what they want.

[candleman]

microstock has done nothing for me but waste my time.
sell with a better agency at higher prices, and you will actually get a check in the mail.
Mine roll around every second month.


I've never seen a cent out of microstock.

[dakwegmo]

I can't remember which microstock site it was, but shortly after I was accepted to one of them, I was about to upload my first batch of images after approval. I noticed on their home page they had a selection of images of images they were offering for free that day. So, I checked the terms of use to see how payouts work on these sorts of deals. The royalty fees photographers earned are a percentage of the total collected for licensing the image. Do you know how much 15% of $0.00 is? I decided at that point that I wasn't going to make any money from microstock.

I don't know if that's what happened in your case, but if you check the site's ToS, it may be possible they're giving away your images and paying you your percentage.

[turtleman]

Originally Posted by andyw

It can also happen with "proper" stock images as well though.

Exactly. I didn't mean this thread to spark even more hatred against microstock agencies in particular. Copyrighted images can be misappropriated anywhere. Only this kind of abuse is even more "rewarding" with microstock due to the lower prices required to get to high-resolution versions.

Originally Posted by dakwegmo

check the site's ToS, it may be possible they're giving away your images and paying you your percentage.

Good to keep this in mind, it pays to check the terms carefully!

[danbaileyphoto]

I'll throw in here with another vote for "That's why I don't do microstock..."

There are many reasons why that business model doesn't work well for photographers who depend on licensing rights in order to make a living from their photography. In most cases, microstock is just bottom barrel feeding and it's not very sustainable for most shooters.