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Articles from August 2017

Shutterstock Downgraded By Jefferies

By Jim Pickerell | 375 Words | Posted 8/31/2017 | Comments
The investment banking firm Jefferies has downgraded Shutterstock shares from Hold to Underperform with a price target of $30.00. Shutterstock stock price closed today at $33.69 down 20% from $42.14 a month ago. The stock is down 52% from the high of $65.16 that it hit in September 2016.

Eight Tips To Prevent Image Theft

By Jim Pickerell | 866 Words | Posted 8/31/2017 | Comments
Everyday Copytrack is confronted with the question from their users of how they can protect their images. Despite there being no one method that completely protects image online, we suggest other tools and ways that reduce the chances of image theft. Here are the simplest to the most complex methods for image protection as presented by Copytrack.

Define The Term “Microstock”

By Jim Pickerell | 938 Words | Posted 8/30/2017 | Comments
I was asked recently if I could provide a definition for “microstock.” The term is probably meaningless today as are the terms Rights Managed and Traditional Royalty Free. All have changed dramatically and overlap in many ways..

Shutterstock Finds Way To Better Protect Its Watermarks

By Jim Pickerell | 275 Words | Posted 8/30/2017 | Comments
A couple weeks ago we reported that Google researchers had found a way to remove the watermarks used by most stock photographer and stock photography sites. To protect their watermarks Shutterstock engineers have designed a “watermark randomizer” that adds subtle inconsistencies to its marks, ensuring each one is a little different and making them difficult for Google to remove.

Watermarks On Photos: Easily Removed

By Jim Pickerell | 250 Words | Posted 8/18/2017 | Comments
Researchers at Google have found a vulnerability in the way watermarks are used by stock imagery sites like Adobe Stock that makes it possible to remove the opaque stamp used to protect copyright.

Illustration Segment Of Stock Image Industry

By Jim Pickerell | 891 Words | Posted 8/16/2017 | Comments
A readers recently asked what I believe the illustration segment of the stock photo industry is worth. A very good question. Since, I've spent most of my career as a photographer, I tend to think of the stock image business in terms of photography, but the reader is right that a huge percentage of the business involves the licensing of graphics and illustrations, not photos. Let me see if I can break it down.

Demand For Assistance In Pursuing Copyright Abuse Increases

By Jim Pickerell | 504 Words | Posted 8/16/2017 | Comments
Increasingly, image creators are turning to online service providers to provide assistance and support in pursuing copyright abuse. Copytrack is seeing rising customer demand in both Japan and the U.S. Marcus Schmitt, Copytrack CEO, attributes the heightened demand to the Berlin-based portal’s strong international involvement in Asian and US congresses, and associations, such as Japan Professional Photographer Society and the Digital Media Licensing Association in New York.

Where Is Offset Headed?

By Jim Pickerell | 854 Words | Posted 8/15/2017 | Comments
Nobody seems quite sure what the future of Offset might be. Keren Sacks, the god-mother of Offset, left (or was let go, no one seems quite sure) last December and is now working as a “Visual Content + Strategy Consultant.”

Workbook To Sponsor Visual Connections Expo 2017

By Jim Pickerell | 265 Words | Posted 8/15/2017 | Comments
Workbook, the leading marketing resource for commercial photographers and illustrators, will again be a sponsor of this year’s Visual Connections Image Expo at the New Yorker hotel in New York on October 25.

Discounts: Do They Generate Enough Revenue?

By Jim Pickerell | 705 Words | Posted 8/10/2017 | Comments (2)
A reader has pointed out that Image Source is offering its customers using the promo code AUG50 a 50% discount on any image purchased during the month. Cavan Images is also offering a 25% discount all month if customers use the discount code CAVAN25. Will temporary discounts bring in more customers and result in more sales overall?

Legal Portraits

By Jim Pickerell | 199 Words | Posted 8/9/2017 | Comments
Stock photographers looking for a way to make some extra money might want to take a look at this article from the National Law Review. The Law Review argues that law firms need to consistently update their attorney portraits on their websites because “prospective clients may use them to form a first impression” of the law firm.

Time Inc. Looks To Save $400 Million: Staff Could Be On The Chopping Block

By Jim Pickerell | 180 Words | Posted 8/9/2017 | Comments
Time Inc. unveiled plans for a “strategic transformation” that will yield more than $400 million in savings over the next few years. In the last quarterly earnings report total revenues fell 10% year to year while operating income fell from $50 million to a loss of $38 million.

Pursuing Copyright Infringement

By Jim Pickerell | 174 Words | Posted 8/9/2017 | Comments
Photographers living in the New York Metro Area who have evidence of a copyright infringement of their work may want to check out this opportunity for free legal assistance in pursuing their case.

What To Charge For Photo Assignments

By Jim Pickerell | 1400 Words | Posted 8/7/2017 | Comments (1)
A woman who earned some decent money as a photographer back in the 1990’s called me recently asking for pricing advice. She was trying to help a young neighbor (just out of high school) understand what he should charge for his photography. This boy loves photography and wants to make it a career. His parents have bought him a lot of good equipment, but his mother is tired of spending money with no prospects of a return on that investment. She wants him to start earning some money from some of the pictures he takes. Here's my advice.

Shutterstock’s Vision Of Market Size

By Jim Pickerell | 824 Words | Posted 8/3/2017 | Comments
On the Shutterstock conference call yesterday CEO and Founder Jon Oringer and CFO Steven Berns made some statements about stock photo market size, and growth potential, that need to be examined. When discussing the Editorial market Oringer said, “Today, we believe our editorial business represents less than 1% of what we estimate is a more than $1 billion market opportunity.”

Shutterstock Q2 2017 Financial Results

By Jim Pickerell | 1013 Words | Posted 8/2/2017 | Comments
Shutterstock has reported Q2 2017 revenue of $134.0 million. This revenue was up 8% from Q2 2016, and up $3.8 million from Q1 2017. Revenue per download increased 9% from $2.81 in Q2 2016 to $3.05. Revenue per download in Q1 2017 was $2.96. At the end of the quarter there were 144.7 million images in Shuttrstock’s collection and 7.6 million video clips. This was up from 132 million images at the end of Q1 2017 and from 92.1 million a year earlier at the end of Q2 2016.

Undiscovered Images At Adobe Stock

By Jim Pickerell | 1033 Words | Posted 8/1/2017 | Comments (1)
Adobe Stock offers customers a very useful search feature that Shutterstock, Getty Images and iStock have chosen to ignore. Adobe lets customers search for “Undiscovered” images. We assume that means image that have never been used, although Adobe doesn’t make that entirely clear.

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This stock photography news site focuses on the business side of photography with a special emphasis on stock photography. Our goal is to help photographers maximize their earnings based on the quality of their work and the commitment they are prepared to make to the trade. The information provided will be applicable to part-timers as well as full time professional photographers. We’ll leave it to others to teach photographers how to take better pictures.

Jim Pickerell launched his career as a photographer in 1963. In 1990 he began publishing a regular newsletter on stock photography. In 1995 the information was made available online as well as in print and was gradually expanded to a daily service. Click here for Pickerell's full biography.

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