Flickr and Getty Images Launch Partnership

Getty Images this week began sending invitations to Flickr members whose photographs the stock company is interested in representing. The Flickr-Getty Images partnership was announced on Flickr’s blog last July, and the second phase was unveiled Wednesday. Getty’s new Flickr Collection will debut in March.

“Invitations are being sent out en masse to photographers across the Flickrverse,” read the blog post, “introducing the tens of thousands of photos that could eventually find a home within the Flickr Collection on Getty Images.”

The Flickr Collection will contain royalty-free and rights-managed photographs available to image buyers for the same prices as those in other Getty Images collections. Photographers participating in the Flickr-Getty partnership will receive 20 to 30 percent of the sale price, depending on the type of licensing agreement applied to each photograph.

The two types of licensing agreements available are rights-managed (RM), which is priced on a use-by-use basis, and royalty-free (RF), whose prices are based on file size.

The selection process begins with Getty Images editors scouring Flickr for images they like, then sending invitations to photographers via FlickrMail. Interested photographers may then sign up as a Getty Images contributor and submit high-resolution versions of their selected images to Getty for review.

With a required minimum file size of 3 megapixels, images in the Flickr Collection are held to a lower standard of resolution than those in other Getty Images collections, which must be approximately 17 megapixels or more. Along with the minimum resolution, Getty’s review process requires model releases for recognizable human subjects.

A “Getty Images on Flickr” group has been created to provide a discussion forum for Flickr members and Flickr and Getty Images staff. Predictably, some controversies have emerged, like whether Getty Images photographers receive a fair percentage – less than some stock agencies, but more than microstock –  and whether the company has a monopoly on the market.

It remains up to individual Flickr photographers to decide whether the partnership is in their best interest. Serious professionals may achieve higher earnings by pursuing stock opportunities through traditional routes, while other Flickr contributors may be thrilled with the opportunity to make money from photographs that otherwise might never have earned a dime.

Flickr members are under no obligation to participate in the program, and those who are not interested in receiving invitations from Getty Images can opt out in their account preferences.

– Patia Stephens

Related Content:
Flickr Getty Images FAQ
Getty Images on Flickr discussion group
Getty Images