Just got an email from Getty Images that they are moving to a 100% “Royalty Free” model rather than a mix of juried Rights Managed and RF.
They state:
Your current RM license will be honored through its entirety, but once your license is up, the image will either become RF or will no longer be available on gettyimages
That’s irksome. We occasionally have to go back and relicense images for another term. I’ve already run into several instances of old Corbis images no longer being available after Getty bought the collection.
If this is true, it’s also not good for the photographers. Some photos deserve more $$$ simply because they are quality photos. Rights Managed collections were supposed to be juried as better quality (but don’t get me started on Alamy…)
I did not get that email, but it’s been years since I bought an image (RF or RM) through Getty. At least the big dog Getty. I still buy a ton through iStock. Looking at their website, I don’t see a mention of traditional RM images. There is a Rights page, but it looks like it deals with celebrity images rather than what you think of when you think of old school RM images.
I didn’t get an email from Getty Images either. I have both a work and personal account there.
If the plan is to go 100% royalty-free, wouldn’t that reduce Getty’s reasoning for keeping iStock alive? Also, I can’t imagine the better photographers agreeing to release their better photos as royalty-free without some monetary incentive to make up the difference. Perhaps the better photos would just cost one or two zillion credits.
Odd. I haven’t used any RM imagery from Getty in years, but this page of their site which was updated this month shows they still have EULA licensing around Rights Managed.
Yeah…Never got an answer back from Customer Service…
We’ll see if all the top end photographers bail. They can get more money for quality as Rights Managed rather than RF.
