Industry Structure
Getty Images, Corbis and Sipa Press are the three largest traditional stock photography agencies in terms of revenue. They offer mostly photographs that have been shot by professional photographers. There are many alternative photo agencies which specialize in certain fields of stock photography, such as Photo Researchers. Stock photography is also available through microstock photography services, through which photographs sell more cheaply but in greater volume.
Whereas Getty and Corbis own the copyright to many of the images they sell, companies like Alamy sell images on behalf of major collections and individual photographers and agencies.
There are three different types of stock photography.
- Macro stock: High priced and exclusive stock photography, also known as traditional stock photography
- Mid stock: Stock photography priced between micro stock and macro stock
- Micro stock: Low priced and inclusive stock photography
Images are filed at an agency that negotiates licensing fees on the photographer's behalf in exchange for a percentage, or in some cases owns the images outright. Pricing is determined by size of audience or readership, how long the image is to be used, country or region where the images will be used and whether royalties are due to the image creator or owner. Often, an image can be licensed for less than $200, or in the case of the microstock photography websites as little as $1 for a low resolution license.
With Rights Managed stock photography an individual licensing agreement is negotiated for each use. Royalty-free stock photography offers a photo buyer the ability to use an image in an unlimited number of ways for a single license fee. The client may, however, request "exclusive" rights, preventing other customers from using the same image for a specified length of time or in the same industry. Such sales can command many thousands of dollars, both because they tend to be high-exposure and because the agency is gambling that the image would not have made more money had it remained in circulation. However, with royalty free licensing there is no option for getting exclusive usage rights.
Some stock photography sites offer low-resolution photography free for the purpose of preparing advertising comps to demonstrate a design. If the advertiser decides to use the image, the rights to use the high-resolution image then can be negotiated or purchased directly from the website.
Professional stock photographers place their images with one or more stock agencies on a contractual basis, with a defined commission basis and for a specified contract term. Some photographers fund their own photo shoots, or develop imagery in cooperation with an agency, while others submit photographs originally produced as part of editorial (magazine) or commercial assignments.
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