Microstock – The Dark Side Of Image Licensing

Posted on 6/3/2019 by Martin Lisius | Printable Version | Comments (1)

There are often two sides to an industry. The side the customer sees, and the "inside" that industry people see. This article is about the inside of the stock image industry.

In the 1990's, the licensing of stock imagery (photos, footage and art) was mostly an off-line business, especially for footage which required previews and masters to be delivered on videotape. Around 2000, more stock footage sources began offering watermarked previews on-line and some FTP master delivery. Fully automated e-commerce stock image web sites were just starting to emerge. But, the original stock image model remained for the most part. Clients spoke directly to real people, negotiated licensing, and paid a licensing fee that was fair to both parties.

A few years later, "microstock" companies began to emerge. Microstock takes advantage of digital technology using servers to do most of the work. It's an efficient way to move imagery around but must be managed carefully to avoid problems that are inherent to the model. During the great recession, microstock flourished. Production budgets were cut, and microstock benefited because they were willing and able to quickly discount (other people's) imagery.



The problem with microstock - for the contributor


"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed."  Mahatma Gandhi

After 2010, microstock became a fad, a way to generate quick revenue. Get some servers and hire some marketing folks to gather contributors and generate customers. A simple, but shortsighted concept. What resulted was a price war. Imagery, sometimes expensive to produce by the photographer, was (and still is) reduced in price to as little as a few cents. Microstock is about volume and has no care for long-term sustainability. It's not important to them that the photographer make any profit. The photographer is just a widget in the microstock machine.



The problem with microstock - for the customer


If you don’t mind working with servers, then microstock might be just fine for you. Except for one thing. COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

Several of the microstock sources use the “open to anyone” YouTube model. Anyone, from any country, can create an account and upload content 24/7. This is the river of content these companies thrive on. There is no vetting. No security. Anyone can come on board with anything. In just the past year, I have compiled a long list of infringements occurring at several major, well known microstock web sites. These incidents were brought to my attention by several photographs, some just friends, others which we represent. Pirates, most likely outside of the US, are gathering footage and stills owned by others, and selling them at microstock web sites. Ultimately, customers download the pirated content thinking it is legitimate.



When the real photographer and copyright owner identifies an infringement and contacts the microstock company, they are presented with a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice. Usually the takedown web page states how much the company “truly cares” about the contributor’s copyrights and for them to complete the form. Once submitted, they say they’ll investigate and remove the content, if necessary. The problem is, a microstock company is a microstock company, not an ISP, and is not protected under DMCA safe harbor. These companies post the DMCA front simply to avoid or reduce copyright infringement claims. Since this is just smoke and mirrors, contributors should feel free to seek compensation if their content was being sold without permission. For the customer, make certain the purchase agreement includes indemnification from the seller. This is a legal promise from them that you’ll be protected in case you are sued by the copyright owner for their mistake.

There is some good news. Customers who require stock imagery for their projects need not ever utilize microstock. Believe it or not, there are still many non-microstock sources which happen to be excellent. Their collections are usually smaller and better managed. Clients have access to premium content and to real, live people that can help them get what they need fast - including previews, masters and customized licensing. The fees are usually higher than microstock, but you get what you pay for. In the end, your project benefits, your client is happy, and your life is better.

Martin Lisius is producer, director, cinematographer and the founder and CEO at Texas-based Prairie Pictures, Inc. He created StormStock, a collection of premium weather footage, in 1993.

If you are a copyright owner/creator, be sure to read his article titled, "How to register your copyrighted multimedia works."

This article was originally published on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/microstock-wtf-martin-lisius/


Copyright © 2019 Martin Lisius. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Comments

  • Alexander Karst Posted Jun 14, 2019
    Let´s dig deeper.
    Before Microstock, RF turned the market upside down, starting in 1992 with Photodisc.
    After Microstock, unsplash and other portals offer images for free.

    All with the same story: lack of curation, pirated images, no model or property release, confused customers.

    A marketing magazine in Germany recently wrote about image collections. They wrote on Unsplash, pixabay and pexels, ending up with "there also exist some alternative portals who sell their images for a price".

    How can customers keep track? By eliminating picture editors and other experienced staff?

    Best wishes from Hamburg, Alex Karst

Post Comment

Please log in or create an account to post comments.

Stay Connected

Sign up to receive email notification when new stories are posted.

Follow Us

Free Stuff

Stock Photo Pricing: The Future
In the last two years I have written a lot about stock photo pricing and its downward slide. If you have time over the holidays you may want to review some of these stories as you plan your strategy ...
Read More
Future Of Stock Photography
If you’re a photographer that counts on the licensing of stock images to provide a portion of your annual income the following are a few stories you should read. In the past decade stock photography ...
Read More
Blockchain Stories
The opening session at this year’s CEPIC Congress in Berlin on May 30, 2018 is entitled “Can Blockchain be applied to the Photo Industry?” For those who would like to know more about the existing blo...
Read More
2017 Stories Worth Reviewing
The following are links to some 2017 and early 2018 stories that might be worth reviewing as we move into the new year.
Read More
Stories Related To Stock Photo Pricing
The following are links to stories that deal with stock photo pricing trends. Probably the biggest problem the industry has faced in recent years has been the steady decline in prices for the use of ...
Read More
Stock Photo Prices: The Future
This story is FREE. Feel free to pass it along to anyone interested in licensing their work as stock photography. On October 23rd at the DMLA 2017 Conference in New York there will be a panel discuss...
Read More
Important Stock Photo Industry Issues
Here are links to recent stories that deal with three major issues for the stock photo industry – Revenue Growth Potential, Setting Bottom Line On Pricing and Future Production Sources.
Read More
Recent Stories – Summer 2016
If you’ve been shooting all summer and haven’t had time to keep up with your reading here are links to a few stories you might want to check out as we move into the fall. To begin, be sure to complet...
Read More
Corbis Acquisition by VCG/Getty Images
This story provides links to several stories that relate to the Visual China Group (VCG) acquisition of Corbis and the role Getty Images has been assigned in the transfer of Corbis assets to the Gett...
Read More
Finding The Right Image
Many think search will be solved with better Metadata. While metadata is important, there are limits to how far it can take the customer toward finding the right piece of content. This story provides...
Read More

More from Free Stuff