Many in business believe “The Customer Is Always Right.” The only problem with this is that most customers always want
“more” for “less money.” In the Internet environment, particularly, everything is expected to be FREE – literally. When it comes to satisfying the customer the problem arises in finding a way to cover the cost of producing the product or service. Part of the answer is to find ways to produce more efficiently. Over the years it has been possible to cut costs by providing workers with better tools, expecting more from the workers for less pay or replacing workers entirely by turning production jobs over to machines.
A recent
story by Petapixel got me thinking about where still photography, as a profession, is headed in this world of generosity and free. Nvidia Corporation, a technology company based in Santa Clara, California, designs graphics processing units for the gaming and professional markets. They have recently released software that can create images of people that look completely real -- except the people never existed.
As fewer and fewer stock photographers earn enough from the licensing of their photos to justify continued production, some suggest that instead of letting stock agencies pay them 20% to 30% of the small gross fees collected to use their images, they should sell their images directly to customers. In this way they would get higher prices and keep 100% of what the customer pays.
Sometimes companies get so anxious to promote themselves that they announce new programs before they are actually functioning properly or ready for release. Last week
Dreamstime announced its “New Reverse Image Search” and said it “makes finding the perfect stock image a snap.”
Everyone knows that many images are being licensed for very low prices. Many feel that the people paying these low prices are small, start-up businesses that are so poor they can’t justify paying fees high enough to cover the costs of creating the image. It is hoped that if photographers help these businesses succeed in the initial stages, eventually when they are profitable they might be able to pay enough to enable image creators to actually profit from their efforts.
In the case of Jonathan Otto vs. Hearst Communications, Inc. in the Southern District Court of New York, Judge Gregory Woods has found that news organizations may not use personal images posted on social media without permission. In the event that personal images are use the infringer is legally liable to pay damages to the creator.
Pond5 has launched a new Web resolution in an effort to grow the use of their clips in the social-media space. The price defaults to 20% of the contributors 4K master price (or 40% of HD price if it’s a native HD file). Contributors will be able to adjust this percentage in their account preferences or on the clip edit item page.
Bridgeman Images is very excited to announce that, thanks to the partnership between Mondadori Portfolio and the Ambrosiana, Bridgeman now represent the amazing
Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana collection, which is comprised of over 6,000 images and contains some of the most important works of literature and fine art in the world.
I was asked recently for my predictions on where the stock photo industry is headed in 2019. There will continue to be massive growth in the number of images added to the major stock photo collections. An increasing percentage will be
produced by amateurs not professionals who might be trying to earn a portion of their living from the images they produce.
Image Source has completed its second move this year to its now permanent residence at 66 Old Compton Street – the former home of a cardinal London creative icon, Rushes Post-Production House - right in the heart of Soho. The move to a larger and more modern creative space is the first of many new initiatives for the premium agency which was bought back by its Founder, Christina Vaughan together with professional Investor and successful businessman, Michael Jackson at the beginning of 2018.