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

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.

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.

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