Partner Program - Quick Facts

Posted By kkthompson:
The Partner Program
That's what we're calling it: the Partner Program. This is the program through which we give you, the iStock contributor, opportunities to make your content available through other sites in the larger Getty Images family. The first two such sites are going to be Photos.com and Thinkstock. Will there be others in the future? For sure, but this is a good first step.

Our Goals
– To give you, the contributor, more opportunities to sell your content to different audiences and markets.
– To retain the strength of the core iStock brand, specifically our collection of Exclusive images.

That's it, really. We want to sell more pictures without compromising things here. We want to do it in a way that's fair and sustainable for all of us.

So how are we going to go about it? Well, there's a short version and a long version:

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THE SHORT VERSION
1. Everyone will have the choice to opt-in or out of the Partner Program starting on June 2nd.

2. Exclusive content newer than 18 months will never be made available at more than one site. Exclusives will have the choice of which sites their older content appears on, on a file by file basis.

3. Photos.com and Thinkstock will pay a flat royalty per download: 25¢ for non-exclusives, and 30¢ – 38¢ for exclusives, according to canister level.

4. Photos.com – Powered by iStockphoto. We will become the driving force behind Photos.com, improving the quality of the collection with the strength of the iStock brand.

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THE LONG VERSION...

Initial Opt In
On June 2nd, when you log in, there will be a page with an explanation of the new artist's supply agreement. The changes will be outlined in plain language, followed by the agreement itself with the changes highlighted. Everyone will have 30 days from the first time they see the page in which to agree to the new ASA.

After you agree, you will be directed to a second page where you can either opt in or out from our Partner Program.

If you click Opt-In, we will automatically select the following eligible files for inclusion at Photos.com/Thinkstock:
– Files that haven't sold in the last 18 months.
– Files older than 2 years with less than 5 downloads
– Files currently in the Dollar Bin
(But remember, you can still change any of these files to not include them)

If you click Opt-Out, we will not add anything. And if you leave the page without choosing either option, you will remain opted-out.

Opting-in other files
After the initial opt-in, you will get a Partner Program opt-in up in your control panel. It will be checked if you chose the initial opt-in.

If you're opted-in, you will find a new column on your ‘My Uploads’ page called ‘Add to Partners’. There will be a checkbox beside each of your files, which you can then check or uncheck for any file.

If at any time you want to remove all of your files from the Partner Program, just uncheck ‘Opt-in to Partner Program’ up in the Control Panel. You are now opted-out, and all of your content will be removed from any other site. (This may take up to 10 days)

If you opt-in later, we won't automatically add any of the 'eligible content' discussed above. That will be a one-time only thing, for the initial ingestion. You will have to check the files you want to add individually.

Exclusive Content
New Exclusive Content will never appear at more than one site. For the first 18 months of an Exclusive file's life, if it is at iStock, it cannot be at Photos.com/Thinkstock, and vice versa.

After 18 months are up, it will be up to the Exclusive contributor where the file lives. It can be at either iStock or our partner sites, or possibly both. But once again, content newer than 18 months cannot be on 2 different sites at once.

Since all the content involved with the initial opt-in will be older than 18 months, Exclusives will be presented with the option to have any files sent to Photos.com/Thinkstock made unavailable at iStock.

Subscription Royalties – Photos.com & JIU
Photos.com/Thinkstock will pay a flat royalty per download to all iStockers.

Non-exclusives will earn $0.25 per download.

Exclusives will earn according to their canister level:
Bronze – 30¢
Silver – 32¢
Gold – 34¢
Diamond – 36¢
Black Diamond – 38¢

These amounts also apply to vector files, so if you don’t feel comfortable at those levels, please don’t move your files over. All file sizes will be available on Photos.com and Thinkstock.

Single Image Sales – Photos.com/Thinkstock
Photos.com and JIU allow customers to make single image purchases at their site, without a subscription. These prices will be in the ‘traditional’ RF price range, but has not been set at this point. We’ll let you know as soon as they are. Single image sales represent a very small percentage of the total sales at Photos.com, so are unlikely to have a significant effect on your earnings one way or another.

Starting in AugustOnce this goes live*, everyone who contributes to Photos.com will receive the standard Getty Images commission of 20% for these single image sales. So it will be the same rate that Exclusives currently uploading to the Photodisc collection at Getty Images are making (and at a comparable price point as well).

There will soon be an information page here at iStock outlining how things work at Photos.com and Thinkstock, including the royalty chart. So you'll be able to get all the relevant information about our partners right here.

Photos.com: Powered by iStockphoto
iStockphoto is becoming the driving force behind Photos.com. The site will be 'Powered by iStock', and iStockphoto will become its main source of content. iStockers eventually will be able to upload directly to Photos.com from their iStock account. This will improve the quality of the Photos.com collection, and establish the iStock name in the subscription marketplace.

Compliance Enforcement
All Exclusive content made available through the Partner Program will receive the same compliance and enforcement protection that you do here at iStock. We will work closely with the Photos.com/Thinkstock teams to ensure this.

Going Forward
After this initial movement of images to the other sites, we’ll be adding selection boxes to the upload process that will enable everyone to upload images directly to the other sites while still being inspected by our crack team. We’ll give more details when we’re closer to launch on it.

Thanks for your patience.

Kelly Thompson,
COO, iStock

Hey there everybody,
So the coordination between all the different sites, cities and offices involved in this project is taking longer than we'd initially expected. It looks like we're no longer going to be launching here in August. They've pushed us back into the fall here. I will keep you updated as I find out more details.

Posted By kkthompson:
On Photos.com iStock content will only be included in the “Photos.com Plus” subscription plan that currently has a price point of $249/month, $599/3 months and $1199/year. iStock content will not be included in the Photos.com basic plan that sells for $449.

Posted By rogermexico:
It all happens on the 2nd - so Tuesday. All the instructions will be on the redirect page that everybody will see then. It's pretty straightforward though - everything will get handled from your 'My Uploads' page. There will be a new tab for 'Partner Program' where you can check the files you do or don't want to send. Very easy.

Posted By rogermexico:
The Partner Program will not operate any differently than iStock. We don't currently withhold any taxes on your earnings. Any earnings that you make through the Partner Program will still be paid out to you by iStock. We are still your representative and are responsible for paying you, whether it is for an image licensed from iStock or a Partner site.

Posted By kkthompson:

Initial Opt In
On June 2nd, when you log in, there will be a page with an explanation of the new artist's supply agreement. The changes will be outlined in plain language, followed by the agreement itself with the changes highlighted. Everyone will have 30 days from the first time they see the page in which to agree to the new ASA.

After you agree, you will be directed to a second page where you can either opt in or out from our Partner Program.