Is a picture licensing revolution about to hit the internet?
In response to Getty Images’ decision last month to open up vast chunks of their image collection for free editorial use, and Reuters doing something similar with their collection of photojournalist images, a new website has launched that hands control back to the photographer. The founder, and man behind eCommerce business Fine Art America, Sean Broihier made a bold declaration to Upstart criticizing the current system that gives photographers little control, leaving them open to exploitation by the established image licensing firms.
“I always wanted to be in the licensing business,”he says. “If you’re an artist or photographer, you should be able to dictate the price for your images and what’s happened with existing sites is that it’s a race to the bottom.”