I've just read that Getty Images have forged an agreement with Flickr to allow any Flickr member to sell their photos via Getty. Flickr members can now choose to "Request a licence" link to their photo, and if someone wants to buy it, the link will put them in touch with a Getty representative who will negotiate a price. I can imagine millions of flickr members jumping on what looks like a gravy train and I think it will kill off a lot of working photographers.Getty will sell the Flickr images for anything from $5 to $400, but the photographer will receive only 30% from each sale.
I keep my eye on a few of the major agencies (Alami, Getty, Corbis), and I can tell you they are stuffed with very similar looking photographs. The price of photos is falling to a laughable level, some agencies are even offering free images.This is the consequence of digital technology which changes things, usually for the worse. Like MP3 music downloads everyone enjoys the products but there's no money to pay the artists.
It's alarming when something becomes imbalanced and out of control so quickly.
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