Declaration of Fair Stock Photo Agency BETA

It is beneficial to have a voluntary agreement on rules that a stock photo agency would respect and contributors value. This site specifies the main issues in an open and transparant way. If you have any ideas, we are open to discussion in regard to missing topics and concerns, as well about issues that have been resolved or are in the process of being resolved.

Voluntary Code of Conduct

The Agency

1. An Agency should state proper attribution (Contributor’s name/nickname) next to the images on it’s site and should require the attribution on its resellers’ sites and in case of editorial use. The Agency should sell the images (even resized) with embedded attribution. The Agency should embed attribution metadata into large previews and use visible watermarks to protect images.
2. An Agency should state the name of each reseller and let Contributors opt-in or out for each of the resellers and from subscription offering on the Agency’s or a resellers’ site where appropriate. The Agency should display the reseller’s name per each sale.
3. An Agency should notify Contributors about commission changes. In that case the Contributor should be able to withdraw his/her images and stop selling through that Agency. In an ideal case the Contributor should be able to withdraw part or the entire portfolio anytime.

The Contributor

1. A Contributor should follow keyword standards of an Agency, should not use non-relevant keywords, and should undertake comprehensive editing of the uploaded content.
2. A Contributor should inform the Agency about any errors, technical problems or difficulties he/she might have with an Agency prior to posting such information on forums. If the Agency is not able to fix the issues within a few hours/days use the forum to inform other contributors.
3. The discussion between Contributor and an Agency should be open and pragmatic while preserving confidential information.

Supporting agencies

Supporting contributors

Join the initiative

If you would like to help us change the industry to be responsible and transparent, please let us know.

Thanks to David Mail, Lee Torrens & Roberto Marinello to help us with defining what should be mentioned in such a document. Thanks to Robert Kneschke for inspiration. We’d really like to hear and read any ideas you might have. The ‘Declaration’ is a first step to an even better microstock market. More about the idea was described in Press Release initiating this declaration (January 2011).

Comments and questions

Vitezslav Valka
Email: vitezslav.valka (at) gmail.com
Twitter: vitavalka
Skype: mr.zager