UK Marketers Confess to Microstock Image Misuse

Microstock sites like Polylooks offer thousands of images for sale

This week, Polylooks unveiled findings of its study into the UK’s creative industry’s collective understanding of how they can use photos from the Web – and it makes worrying reading! We found that more than a third of UK creative professionals – publishers, PR people, marketers, etc – use Internet images without consent – and four in five (81 per cent) of those don’t feel guilty about doing so.

Digital rights are a really hot topic right now, and when a photographer or artist submits their work to a microstock site for people to use online they do so to either earn money, to showcase their work, or both. This is being undermined largely by a widespread misunderstanding over how and where images can – or can’t – be used. For example, only 21 per cent correctly identified the definition of ‘royalty free’, with nearly half (44 per cent) believing it meant they could use the image without paying for it. In fact, users must purchase the image and then are able to use it with certain restrictions. Additionally, only 16.5 per cent knew what ‘rights managed’ meant. The survey unveiled that these creative professionals have control over image-buying budgets, despite their lack of knowledge of how to legally use them.

Norbert Weber, Product Manager at Polylooks, said of the findings: “There is still a great deal of confusion when it comes to using photos or illustrations that photographers and artists have made available for sale online. Many people who should be paying for the right to use images are not doing so due to a lack of understanding on industry rules and terminologies. Some 85 per cent of creative professionals are not familiar with the term ‘microstock’, which presents stock image providers like Polylooks with a challenge. Is it time we redefined what we offer?”

Other key findings from the survey include:

·        81.4 per cent of creative professionals that have used an image without paying for it did not feel guilty

·        44 per cent legally download between one and five pictures each month, while seven per cent buy more than 11 stock images each month

·        Nearly half (48 per cent) do not have a microstock image budget but five per cent spend in excess of £100 each month on images

Do you use microstock sites? Do these findings surprise you? Get involved in the debate, we’d love to hear your views.

*Survey of 200+ UK-based marketing, PR and publishing professionals conducted online throughout November 2009

Fill your Christmas stocking: Buy Polylooks photo credits to get free iPod

Polylooks is offering you an early present to get you in the Christmas mood. Stock image users have the opportunity to pick up Apple iPods this Christmas with our special microstock purchase offer. If you’re looking to buy photos online this month, go to www.polylooks.co.uk. We’ve got around a quarter of a million stock photos and illustrations available for download and, if you’re buying in bulk, customers who buy a 200-credit package will receive a FREE 2GB iPod Shuffle with their purchase. And those who buy a 500-credit package will receive a FREE 16GB iPod Nano!

The process couldn’t be easier. Simply log on to Polylooks.co.uk, register (if you’re a new user) and make your image credit purchase. Then, email us with your username and postal delivery address at support@polylooks.co.uk with the subject “My iPod delivery”. We will verify your claim and reply with a confirmation email. Your iPod will then be posted to you straight away!

Not only will you have plenty of microstock credits to use for your publication, website or promotional materials, but you’ll also have a timely gift delivery, for yourself or a loved one.

So, if you’re surfing for bargains online this Christmas, add Polylooks image credits to your list, log onto Polylooks.co.uk and get shopping!

Paris in the Winter: Win a Trip for Two to Paris!

Parisian Walkways: A daytime shot of the Eiffel Tower

How would you like to win two return tickets on the Eurostar* between London and Paris? Well, if you work in the creative industries in the United Kingdom then Polylooks is offering that chance.

If you work in public relations, advertising, design, or online and offline publishing, you will most likely have used a stock image service to buy royalty free and rights managed photography or illustrations. But are you aware of how freely you can use those stock images once you have paid for them? We’d love to know your views, so please fill in our microstock survey, which shouldn’t take more than a minute, and leave your email to enter our prize draw for the chance to win two return Eurostar tickets to Paris.

While stock images are great to use, they do come with restrictions. Using Paris as an example, did you know that there are no restrictions on using photos of the Eiffel Tower by day but by night, when illuminated, the structure is subject to copyright laws? This is not uncommon among public buildings. Sites such as Polylooks have to check that their stock image contributors have the right to use images before they host them for sale online. This ensures that when you buy photos online you have every right to use them.

In fact, Polylooks has 810 stock photos of Paris available for sale, but if you win the competition you’ll be able to take plenty of your own! Good luck!

A final quick point: we’d love you to join our Facebook page and interact with you.

*dates and time of travel subject to availability

A Picture of Christmas

At this time of year the demand for stock images relating to Christmas and other winter scenes shoots up. With such a wide range of royalty free images available, how can publishers, bloggers and private stock image users make sure that they find the right stock photos?

Polylooks.co.uk alone has nearly 10,000 stock images tagged with the word ‘Christmas’ and almost 12,000 labelled

Polylooks' library contains 206 images of snowmen

‘winter’. Filtering out the right royalty free images for you is made simple, however, by colour scheme options and emotion.

Think of the three most prominent colours we associate with Christmas; red, white and green. These tend to be the most popular choices for those who buy photos from Polylooks, but you may be after something more sentimental – like black and white images. In which case, use the colour code in conjunction with the ‘emotion’ drop-down menu to find the right look-and-feel for you.

Tagged Up

Tags are incredibly important in the selection of royalty free stock images. These help narrow down the search, so you could be looking for a Christmas tree, but do you want it covered in decorations? Inside or outside? Star on top? Lights? Entering keywords helps refine the search.

Do you want to use a stock photo or royalty free illustrations? A lot of Polylooks’ customers tend to buy royalty free illustrations for winter use as opposed to buying photos online. Artwork often makes for a more fun image in step with the festive period than stock photos.

Picture This!

Whatever your Christmas stock image needs, you’ll find it at Polylooks.co.uk. We’ve got a multitude of mince pies, Christmas trees, presents, Nativity scenes, Santas and even 206 snowmen to boot! Most of Polylooks’ stock image contributors are from Europe, so our images have a distinctly European feel.

For more on selecting royalty free images read our recent post on stock image selection best practice.

We’d love you to join our Polylooks Facebook page and interact with you.

Seeking Perfection: How to Find the Right Stock Photo for You

Creative types are often perfectionists. When searching through royalty free stock images a publisher, designer or other user of microstock photography will have in their own mind a vision of the image they’re searching for to accompany their article, blog or design. This is where it gets tricky! For example, Polylooks.co.uk alone hosts more than a quarter of a million images. Someone searching through stock photo websites could easily spend hours looking for that perfect stock photo.

An image selected by mood and colour scheme from Polylooks.co.uk

Most microstock sites will offer simple drop-down, multiple choice menus which filter down the search experience but still leave hundreds or thousands of results to sift through. We at Polylooks have tried to simplify that process as much as possible to reduce the amount of time microstock image purchasers spend looking for photos and artwork by being a little more intuitive.

For example, Polylooks.co.uk enables stock photo purchasers to search by ‘emotion’. Do you want your image to have a friendly feel? Do you want it to convey fear? When contributors upload their photos or artwork, they categorise them by emotion so you can further narrow down your search according to look and feel.

It’s also possible to narrow the search further using colour schemes, so buyers of royalty free stock photos can best match the stock images they want with the background colours they’re already working with. You can also search by photographer, continent or country, and even take your chances with the ‘Random Search’ option.

Stock photography shoppers can also benefit from the size option. Do you need a web image or are you searching for a large format size that you can use for merchandise, such as billboard advertising? Use the size filters to help refine your microstock search.

Our top tips for searching for the right stock photo image are:

· Think about keywords – how would you describe the stock image you’re searching for? They’re probably the same as the photographer tagged them with

· Use the ‘emotion’ option when searching on Polylooks.co.uk – it helps whittle down your search to get a more accurate look and feel

· Think about the colour scheme you want. Many composition shots have a plain, white studio background anyway and are perfect for Web publishing, for example

If you think we missed anything here or you’ve got some tips – or queries – of your own, do please leave a comment and we’ll make sure we respond.

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Golden Brown: Capturing Autumn’s Glory

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun,” – this is how the poet John Keats captured autumn in words.  With golden leaves, ripened fruit and long shadows, autumn is also a fantastic season to capture on camera. Added to this we have colourful events, like Halloween and Guy Faulkes’ Night.

At this time of year publishers want pictures of autumnal scenes; yellow leaves, lingering sunsets, illuminated pumpkins. Polylooks has an extensive store of images for publishers to find their ideal shot to best encapsulate the season of autumn in all its glory. Have a search through www.polylooks.co.uk to find your perfect image. On Polylooks you can also search by colour scheme and emotion, which helps you slender down your options.

If you’re a professional or keen amateur photographer, you’ll already know how great autumn looks through a lens. Why not submit your pictures to Polylooks? There are three main types that really grab publishers’ attention:

An Autumnal Landscape

Landscape: The ghostly mists and playful colours of autumn make a forest or parkland scene perfect for publishers. Pick a clear day to get an atmospheric shot.

A Seasonal Portrait Shot

Portrait: Autumn is fun! Why not shoot families or children enjoying the crunchy leaves or dressing up for Halloween? Remember, if taking pictures of people you need the express permission of all identifiable persons in the image in the form of a model release.

 

Composition: Autumn is synonymous with the richness of harvest: apples, pears, nuts. Creating a composition of the

A Composition

season’s bounty could make an attractive photo for potential buyers.

We hope you enjoy autumn. Whether you’re searching for images for publishing and merchandise use, or a photographer thinking of getting into microstock photography, visit Polylooks.co.uk and see what we have on offer.

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