Shutterstock has reported Q3 2018 revenue of
$151.6 million up $7.5% million compared to Q3 2017. (The comparison excludes the 2017 revenue from
Webdam which was divested in Q1 2018.) Gross revenue was and down from $156.6 million in Q2 2018. Revenue per download averaged
$3.40 per image, compared to $3.23 in Q3 2017. (Much of this growth is probably due to increased sales of video content offered at much higher prices than still image content.)
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reinstated copyright infringement claims by sports photographers against commercial users of their photographs, finding that the licenses that the photographers had granted to one of those users did not permit it to grant a sublicense to the other to use those photographs for free.
Spinelli, et al. v. National Football League, et al.,
Case No. 17-cv-0673 (2d Cir. Sept. 11, 2018) (Lynch, J).
The following is an update of information I have supplied previously about the Image Creator Locator concept. The previous stories can be found
here,
here,
here and
here.
The images created by photographers who are trying to earn a portion of their living from their work represent very small minority of the total images that can be found on the Internet. Every day the number of images on the Internet that require licensing becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of the total. While there may be 2 billion unique images online that photographers have on offer for licensing, that number is a very small percentage of the total images available for viewing.
The last thing this industry needs is lower prices. However, it often seems that whenever someone wants to start a new business, or grow an existing one, they conclude that the most important distinguishing characteristic compared to their competitor must be lower prices. The new
Onepixel offering clearly illustrates this point. A group of people with experience in the industry put together a new site. Based on their experience they are well aware of the type images in greatest demand by customers. They have previously built relationships with many of the creators of such images. They have a good idea for offering a small highly curated collection of images that will make it much easier for customers to quickly find what they need.
A few former Fotolia employees have joined forces to launch a new microstock site called
Onepixel.com. While at Fotolia these people were able to learn the type of pictures that customers are most interested in buying and build relationships with many of the photographers who have been most successful in producing such images.
The U.S. Senate has passed the
FAA Reauthorization Act that will give authorities permission to shoot down private drones that are determined to be “threats.” The proposed law has sparked an outcry from civil liberties organizations.
The CEO of Agence France-Presse Fabrice Fries has announced a "transformation plan" which will cut the number of employees by 5% at the end of 2017 in order to bring net profit of the company into equilibrium by 2021.
Photographers trying to earn a portion of their living from the images they produce get very upset when they discover that someone has used one of their images without permission or compensation. But, pursuing and collecting from such users can be a very complex process and raise some difficult issues.
Shutterstock, Inc. has announced that Editorial content is now available for license on its eCommerce Platform. Shutterstock Editorial offers images that capture the world around us, including a live feed of curated news, sports, entertainment and royal family images, along with access to a multi-decade archive of iconic images. Previously available only to Enterprise customers with Shutterstock Premier accounts, this collection is now available to all Shutterstock customers through
Shutterstock.com/editorial.