The project that Getty killed

Posted on January 14, 2009

by Paul Melcher

According to Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Flickr was inches away from releasing FlickrStock, allowing users to license their images for a fee. Apparently Getty convinced the Yahoo executive that an exclusive deal with them was much better.

Getty protected its valuable Istockfoto asset thanks to this deal and delayed the opening of the flood gates. I would love to have heard how Yahoo was convinced to drop such potential revenue. Or is getty paying them a fee to be their “exclusive” representative ?

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Paul Melcher

Paul Melcher is a veteran of the visual media world, with over 15 years of experience at the crossroads of journalism, photojournalism, and emerging technology. A longtime advocate for ethical visual storytelling, he has written extensively on the evolution of imagery, authorship, and truth in the digital age. Today, he is an expert in visual authenticity and image integrity, building forward-looking solutions that address the growing challenges of synthetic media. Paul is the founder of MelcherSystem, where he advises companies, institutions, and creatives on trust in visual content.