Getty to pay Flickr photographers

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 10 Jul 2008 at 10:46

The world-famous picture agency Getty is to pay Flickr users for the commercial rights to their photos.

Under a new deal signed with Yahoo's photo-sharing site, Getty editors will hand pick Flickr members to participate in a special collection hosted on its own website.

Getty will then sell the commercial rights to those photos to its creative, commercial and editorial customers around the world, which include most major newspapers and magazines.

The picture agency won't reveal how much Flickr photographers will be paid for their wares, short of saying that it will be a direct royalty payment between the agency and the Flickr contributor.

"Flickr photographers will be asked to sign a Getty Images contributor contract if they agree to have their images licensed for commercial use that will specify rates for RM [rights managed], RR [rights ready] and RF [royalty free] royalties as applicable," a spokesperson told PC Pro. "The agreement and rates will be available soon."

Getty says there is high demand for the more natural, candid photography that Flickr's amateur photographers offer. "Through this partnership, we will be offering an expanded choice of imagery with more regionally relevant content and a wider range in the style of photography available," claims Andy Saunders, vice president of creative imagery at Getty Images. "Flickr's philosophy of personal sharing and immediacy has already impacted commercial photography.

"The new Flickr collection will expand the definition of stock photography by making it even easier for our customers to find and license imagery that works in the full range of traditional and digital media."

Flickr says the Getty Collection will launch later this year.