Leading image and footage creator and distributor Getty Images recently strengthened it ties with Flickr, one of the most popular photo management and sharing applications online. Last week, the official Flickr blog announced the roll-out of the Request to License feature, which can be activated by Flickr users. Once turned on, the feature lets viewers know that the Flickr images can be licensed through Getty Images.
Flickr, a Yahoo! service, hosts billions of images from 40 million registered users on its site. In its Community Guidelines, Flickr does not permit its members to use the site for commercial purposes. By partnering with Getty, Flickr allows its users earn from their photos off-site. Since 2009, more than 40,000 Flickr users have submitted images to the Call for Artists in Flickr for screening by Getty editors. Members whose images pass through quality checks are then invited to join Getty’s Flickr Collection. The collection now has over 100,000 images offered for rights-managed and royalty-free licenses.
Getty Images touts authenticity as an edge Flickr images have over other commercial images available online. Options for web and mobile use start at $5 for images from Getty’s Flickr collection. Getty maintains that the Flickr collection is not microstock, or images are available at very low rates. Rather, licensing and pricing are similar to their premier collections such as Stone, The Image Bank and Photodisc.
This alternative method of sourcing content allows Getty to expand its collections and roster of contributors from all over the world. The first provider to license images online, Getty requires the same model and property releases, contracts and legal agreements from Flickr users as it does from its contributors.
