exclusive benefits?

Hi, 

I'm an exclusive video contributer here, but haven't been active in a good while. Frankly, the submission process is pretty frustrating and everytime I think about getting active again, I'm reminded of that. Can't complain too much, have been happy to be an istock video contributer for years and have made some decent dough.

However, before I get active again I wanted to revisit exactly what the current benefits of being exclusive here are. I've read mutterings in this forum that it may not be all that advantagous anymore. I really don't want to bother with multiple accounts with other providers at this point, but was thinking of trying a couple out. 

So, for those of you who do this all the time I had some questions:

1. What are the current benefits of being exclusive for video beyone a little higher percentage?

2. If you're an exclusive video contributer, does that just mean the clips you have here aren't anywhere else? Or, does that mean you can't contribute anywhere else period? ie. keep my current clips here, but upload a few new ones to other providers to test the waters. Is this allowed under exclusivity?

3. If you decide to cancel exclusivity, how long does it take before you're free to start spreading your clip love around?

(Edited on 2013-03-06 09:07:32 by skiphunt)

Ok, I'm guessing most wouldn't want to go on the record for or against exclusivity in this forum. And, I just found the istock info page about exclusivity (always find it so difficult to find info on this site that should be fairly easy to find)

What I'm not clear on is if exclusivity means that ONLY the files on istock can't be sold anywhere else? Or, if ANY/ALL video files I have can't be sold anywhere else? ie. would it violate the exclusivity agreement if you sold NEW video that wasn't on istock and had not been submitted to istock on other sites?

I see that it's fairly easy to end exclusivity and takes 90 days to come back to exclusivity if you change your mind. 

I'm not complaining or anything. It's just that it takes sooooo long to even get through the queue and then once you do, if anything is wrong (like an extra couple seconds of freeze-frame at the end that you didn't catch) then you have to submit again and hope the next inspector approves it. Meaning, it could take anywhere from a month to 2 months to even find out if your clip was accepted.. even as an exclusive. 

I would imagine the other providers have the same issues, but was looking for a way to try it out without cancelling my exclusivity.

(Edited on 2013-03-06 10:12:56 by skiphunt)

All your clips are exclusive including the rejected one's, you can not sell them anywhere else. 

I saw that rejected ones can't be sold anywhere else, but what about clips that haven't even been submitted and therefore neither accepted OR rejected?

I'm sure the answer is no, but the verbiage specifying "rejected clips" can't be sold, seems odd. The exact verbiage as written on this site implies that clips submitted to istock that are either accepted or rejected can't be sold elsewhere, but that clips that haven't been submitted, accepted, or rejected maybe free-game.

(Edited on 2013-03-06 10:43:03 by skiphunt)

To my knowledge the answer is "NO" the only other option you have is to submit those as RM and then that is ok.

Thanks for the info. Just read that part about RM. Maybe I'll try out some RM with some othe providers see how the other half lives.

The line between RM and RF has been blurring lately... some RM licenses are pretty darn general. Does anyone have any insight into how iStock defines these terms for the purpose of enforcing its exclusivity agreement?


 

As long at it is and states it's an RM license you are good to go.

RM and RF are different for sure, and yes you can sell RM content with a competitor and retain your exclusivity. However, be careful to keep this content seperated, learn exactly how the RM license works, and know what kind of content to place in RM. For example, you cannot take a file that is RM at one vendor and sell it for RF on another. Or even a file that has been RF and then turn it into RM. That just removes the "M" out of the equation so it is meaningless.