VisualSteam’s
“7th Annual Survey of Creative Pros: Stock Image Licensing” is a must read for stock image creators and stock agency managers who want insights into what leading, major stock photo buyers need, where they are going to purchase images and what they are looking for in the way of service. It is well worth the $79.99 price.
Stock photo agencies need to pay more attention to the time limitations of their customers and provide more efficient search options. As image collections get larger and larger searching for the right image becomes harder and harder for the image buyer and requires more and more of that buyer’s time. The problem with the current default search procedures is that customers must look through too many irrelevant images before they find one they can use.
Design Pics Inc., based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada has assumed the interim management of Masterfile during the bankruptcy process. Masterfile first filed to restructure its business in
April 2017 and was unable to make any royalty payments to photographers after
January 2018. According to information supplied to creditors by Harris & Partners, the insolvency trustee, as of March 3, 2020 Masterfile had total assets of $270,000 and total liabilities of
$4,092,654.41. They owe royalty payments for the images they licensed to 530 stock agencies and independent photo creators.
It turns out that the link I provided for Alamy’s list of photo needs only works for me. Readers have found that when they click on the link it simply tries to open their Google Mail page in a browser.
So here’s the list.
Most of the country, and the world, is now “sheltering in place” and doing everything possible to minimize contact with others. Under these conditions freelance photographers will find it very difficult to produce new, marketable images. The following are some ideas for ways to t productively occupy your time and better prepare to generate revenue when life gets back to normal.
The
good news is that under the new Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act virtually all self-employed freelance photographers should be able to qualify to receive
$600 in federally funded COVID-19 pandemic benefits for up to 13 weeks. In addition, some may also qualify for up to 26 weeks of regular state unemployment.
This program extends coverage to those who ordinarily would not qualify for state unemployment, including the self-employed, independent contractors and gig workers.
House of Pictures, the picture agency for premium interiors, has been part of Image Professionals GmbH since
October 2019. The Munich-based agency group unites various leading specialist picture agencies under one roof. The website
www.houseofpictures.com has undergone a complete re-launch, presenting new agency content, updated functions and a revised, fresh design.
Shutterstock, Inc. has announced that its footage offering is now available for license in SD, HD, and 4K for customers using
iOS and
Android applications. With over 17 million videos in the collection, searching, saving and licensing footage content allows customers to create engaging video content from a mobile or tablet device.
The U.S. Supreme Court says sovereign immunity protects state governments from copyright infringement lawsuits and has decided that it is OK for U.S. states to grab any photo they can find and use it without notifying or compensating the creator. The specific case that brought the matter to the nation’s highest court was filed by Rick Allen, an independent film producer and director in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who in the 1990s filmed the salvaging of the Queen Anne's Revenge, the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard, that had run aground at Beaufort, North Carolina in 1718.
“Sheltering in Place” will certainly hurt many photographers. Photographers won’t be able to get out to shoot new images. Customers won’t be coming to your studio. You might be able to shoot still lifes in your home, but getting props may be difficult. So what can you do to pay your bills? One possibility, particularly if you have a large stock photo collection, is to check out
Canva and see if they will pay a one-time fee to purchase rights to a significant number of your images for inclusion in their Free collection that they make available to their Graphic Design customers.
About Michael Masterson
Michael Masterson has a broad range of experience in marketing, business development, strategic planning, contact negotiations and recruiting in the photography, graphic design and publishing industries. In addition to his long experience at the Workbook and Workbookstock, Masterson owned and was creative director of his own graphic design firm for several years.
Masterson has been a speaker or panelist at industry events such as Seybold, PhotoPlus Expo, Visual Connections and the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) national conference. He is currently the national president of the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP). He also serves on the board of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in his Los Angeles community. He chaired the marketing committee for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a historic preservation advocacy group, for many years.
He currently heads Masterson Consulting, working on projects ranging from business development for creative companies and sourcing talent for them to promoting and marketing industry events as well as providing resume and professional profile services for job-seekers. He can be reached at zvpunryqznfgrefba@tznvy.pbz.