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SAA White Paper: Straight Talk About Stock Licensing Models, Part 4 |
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Written by Stock Artists Alliance, Edited by Betsy Reid
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Sunday, 12 March 2006 |
Editor's Note: This is the forth installment of a multipart
series covering stock licensing models that we will be publishing over
the next few weeks.
SAA
recognizes the urgent need to expand industry-wide understanding about
how stock licensing models work for the creators, users and
distributors of images. SAA’s White Paper: Understanding Stock
Licensing Models is downloadable from the SAA web site at www.stockartistsalliance.org . Many of the points made in that paper form the basis of this report.
The Top of the Pyramid
Can RF be profitable for a photographer? The answer is yes, for a
relatively small group of high volume production-oriented stock
photographers. The RF “superstars” tend to have staff support and
extensive archives. They were in an ideal position to profit from RF by
leveraging their production experience and financial success from
already prosperous RM careers. Their success stories are impressive,
but most photographers today cannot easily replicate their business
models.
Pressure Tactics
While it’s hard enough for photographers to make a balanced assessment of RF, the squeeze has definitely been on photographers from a number of fronts to engage. Content developers and distributors, along with a few highly successful RF photographers and industry pundits, are spinning variations of the same message: RF is an opportunity to seize or lose. Here’s how one online stock advisor offers a sound put-down to anyone resisting the RF offer:
“The old-timers would have you believe that choosing whether or not to produce RF is a moral issue…IT’S NOT…it’s a BUSINESS decision…. It ain’t going away, and while the dinosaurs who refuse to change with the times keep their heads buried in the sand, I personally know of several photographers who are laughing at them all the way to the bank."
This kind of pressure to move into RF is dismissive of the hard facts and concerns such as those addressed here and raised by respected industry professionals and trade
organizations who are dedicated to the best interests of photographers. Moreover, it has had a detrimental (and divisive) effect on the community of professional photographers who are facing numerous challenges in their businesses.
Assessing the RF Deal
Many successful RM shooters have made the decision against shooting RF - regardless of income potential and pressure to engage - because they object to the terms of the business model. Some have been fortunate as they are in a financial position that makes this decision easier to make. However, to a student or new photographer with minimal cash flow, it’s harder to walk away from anyone offering an entrée to the stock business, regardless of the terms.
RF brands continue to cut costs by reducing the fees, expenses and percentage terms offered to photographers. Some have hired staff shooters to develop image inventories on a work-for-hire or minimal royalty basis. As the wholly owned RF content continues to grow, it will increasingly dominate the inventory.
With the “easy money” days of RF production long past, photographers considering the RF proposition are looking at a very different profit equation. Fewer images are accepted, production costs are rising, competition has intensified, and the terms of the deal are set up to maximize the payout down the road for the brands and the distributors and not for the photographers.
Return to part 3 Go to part 5
About SAA
StockArtistsAlliance (SAA) is a global trade
association dedicated to the interests of Rights Managed stock
photographers worldwide through advocacy, education and community.
Learn more about what SAA is doing to help stock photographers at www.stockartistsalliance.org and SAA invites professional photographers, dedicated students and allied industry professionals to apply for membership.
Our StockArtists web site at www.StockArtists.com features over 200 portfolios of SAA member images available for Rights Managed license.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 20 March 2006 )
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Bits & Pieces