Finally..all in one place. Micro and traditional RF have finally united in one, simple to use, website. The entity behind it ? Well, Getty Images, of course. Some were already playing with it, others were staying away from it, Getty jumped in it, two feet at a time.

No more of this ridiculous RF branding that presupposed that RF image buyers are actually faithful to brand like they would be to a car manufacturer ( oh, dear, I only buy Honda’s) . They need an image quick and easy, and that’s all. They don’t care if it was shot by Joe Boobleeboo or that guy that grossed millions of dollars last year ( ya, right).

Because the pricing is by subscription only, there is no price comparison. Thus images are downloaded based on their value to the customer, not by how much they save. Amateurs are now on the same level as super pros ( are they any left in the RF space ?) . Meta search engines like SpiderPic can stuff it as the cannot compare pricing.

Getty has finally broken a few old barriers here and fighting back against its odd competition. Shutterstock, as well as the Alamy’s and other volume based image banks must be shaking in their winter boots. There is volume her, there is extreme ease of pricing, there is very strong search capabilities and most important, there is superb ease of use. No more of this pricing on size, no more pricing based on collections (or brand), no more of different offering/different sites. All in one place.

Furthermore, once downloaded once, an image can be used over and over without any additional license fee. Thus big companies ( book publishers, corporations, small image intensive design companies) can easily create a in house database and store images until they need them again: for free.  Why need to go anywhere else? This is going to suck the air out of a lot of RF based businesses ( that was predictable) by attracting a lot of customers.

Pay once, download once, use infinite time is something that we are probably going to see expand like a wildfire through the industry for a multiple of reasons : Poor or nonexistent DRM, inefficient tracking systems, expensive legal process, especially for RF.

This new launch by Getty will certainly have a huge impact across all aspects of the RF photo sector. It will be very interesting to see who will try to compete via others means, and those that will just decide to shut down. One thing is sure, there is no turning back now.

By the way, this is the same model that they plan to roll out for editorial usage very soon. (more on that another day)

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8 Thoughts on “The new end

  1. janscherders on February 1, 2010 at 2:43 pm said:

    My God…..you are right, this must be the end of stock photography. Why buy at Getty, Corbis, Istock anymore ? Pay $250 and you can download 750 images……..this is even better than Istock (for buyers).

  2. cutcaster on February 1, 2010 at 7:31 pm said:

    It’s not really as it seems. Once you’ve used an image, you can keep using it – over and over – in future projects. You never mentioned this warehousing element that keeps buyers from using content that they didnt use while their subscription was valid. Once they end their subscription they are not allowed to store images that they didnt use during the time of their subscription.

    UNDER RESTRICTIONS

    3.2 Licensee may not download more than twenty-five (25) Licensed Material per day during the subscription term. Licensee shall not stockpile, download, or otherwise store Licensed Material not used during the Term for future use. Thinkstock may (a) monitor, as frequently as Thinkstock determines, anything Licensee downloads from the Thinkstock Web site, (b) track any abuse of Licensee’s username(s) and password(s), (c) suspend or terminate Licensee’s Thinkstock subscription, without notice, if Thinkstock believes to be there is a violation of this Agreement and/or any abuse or sharing of Licensee’s username and password.

    This sentence I think is the biggie. “Licensee shall not stockpile, download, or otherwise store Licensed Material not used during the Term for future use.”

    I wonder what they consider use. Is showing a client a lightbox full of images during your subscription considered “use.” It is not really 750 images for 250 bucks.

  3. cutcaster on February 1, 2010 at 7:33 pm said:

    What you wrote above isn’t neccesarily correct, Paul.

    “Furthermore, once downloaded once, an image can be used over and over without any additional license fee.”

    Just because you downloaded the image doesnt mean you can use it over and over. You need to “use” it during the time of your subscription for it to be legal for you to retain the rights to reuse it. At least that is my reading of the license.

  4. John,

    It clearly states on the home page ” Download up to 25 images a day / 750 images a month. And once you’ve used an image, you can keep using it – over and over – in future projects. ” Possibly, “during the term”, but as long as you are paying the subscription, the term goes on.
    Furthermore, I doubt Getty will hire a stockpile police to monitor all their clients and usage.
    You also write : “It is not really 750 images for 250 bucks.” Not sure what that means as it clearly says it many times on the site.
    I understand that you would like to see some magical restriction here as this is your company is right in the target of this new offering. However, If I were you, I would look for another line of work..Quickly.

  5. Hi Paul & John,
    mmhh John, I don’t think somebody could make an investigation about stockpile of the customers… to think in paradoxes, I’d put all my 750 licensed images in a PPT presentation titled “my month in micro/RF imaginary”… it’s enough.

  6. cutcaster on February 3, 2010 at 5:00 pm said:

    Hahaha. I am happy and staying at Cutcaster for the long haul. Subscriptions are not a part of my model as you know but I understand completely how it affects me and the buyers. There are a lot of companies that compete against us.

    I guess the question is what constitutes use, Paul. I guess from what you wrote you are saying once it is downloaded that is considered used and they have RF rights to the image even after the expiration of the subscription service in perpituity.

    “once downloaded once, an image can be used over and over without any additional license fee.”

    Is that correct that you think the act of downloading is usage?

    what do you think this means? “Licensee shall not stockpile, download, or otherwise store Licensed Material not used during the Term for future use.”

    It doesn’t really say what “use” is so there is no way to know if a user has stockpiled because they can do exactly as what roberto said above and just put it into a powerpoint and say it was “used” and thus have the rights to use it, I guess.

    “You also write : “It is not really 750 images for 250 bucks.” Not sure what that means as it clearly says it many times on the site.”

    You are right. I said “not really.” If you are diligent you can get up to 750 a month. It’s marketing spin. You have to use them all to be able to continue to use them after your subscription expires. Plus you can only download 25 a day and if you miss one then you can’t download 50 on another day. Plus 750 images divided by 25 images a day is 30 days. What happens on months with 28 days or 31 days? So you “may not” actually get all 750 images for 250 but only the ones you “used” or downloaded that day. If you miss a day you can not go back and redownload 50 images on another day because you missed one.

  7. Semantics, John, Semantics…It will not save your Biz or anyone like you

  8. Nope only innovation and not being afraid to fail will. Obviously Getty is a follower with this move 😉 so I don’t see this saving their business anymore than it is hurting me and my chances of creating new revenue lines and businesses within stock. They are killing themselves.

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