Royalty Schedule

The charts below set out the royalty rate an iStockphoto contributor will earn when your files are licensed.

Contributor royalties begin at 15% and increase based on the total iStock credits used to license a contributor's files each calendar year — these are known as "redeemed credits" — up to 45%. Each year, redeemed credit targets will be announced. These targets will be used to guide a contributor's royalty rate during that year and to establish the initial royalty rate in the following year. This initial rate will be the minimum the contributor receives throughout the year, however a contributor's royalty rate increases immediately if their redeemed credits total reaches a new level.

iStock Credit Values

The royalty is based on the net price of iStock credits used to license a file. iStock credit prices vary depending on when they were purchased (as our prices change over time) and how many were purchased at once (as we discount bulk packages).
View Credit Prices

Redeemed Credits

Redeemed credits are the actual number of iStock credits used for each download on the site and depend on the file size, type, collection and any extended license options added. Contributors will have separate redeemed credit totals for each file type they contribute to (e.g., artists who contribute photos and videos will have separate redeemed credit totals for each).

Royalty Rate Levels for 2011