Getty Images has struck up a deal with Flickr, allowing it to license selected images from the photo-sharing site.

The images will be licensed under Getty's existing stock contracts as Rights Managed, Royalty Free or Rights Ready pictures. Flickr will only make images available for licensing through Getty Images, but Getty Images will work with each selected photographer individually rather than the organisation as a whole. Each photographer will be paid directly by Getty, and Flickr will not take a cut of their fee. Instead a financial agreement has been worked out at a corporate level between Getty Images and Flickr.

Jonathan Klein, CEO of Getty Images and one of its founders, stated that the deal 'had nothing to do with microstock'. Speaking to BJP, he stated: 'The terms between Getty and these photographers will be exactly the same as the terms between any other photographers. In effect Flickr will be an image partner and we will have the same arrangement as with any other image partner - National Geographic, Time, Life, Dorling Kindersley and so on.

'The fees will be at our standard rates. For Royalty Free the average is from $200-$250, for Rights Managed the average fee is between $500-$600, Rights Ready just a little less than Rights Managed. We will get similar prices for this imagery. This is fundamental to the deal.

'It's not microstock - we are marketing these images under traditional stock licensing models.

Klein added that the deal was 'long term', covering at least five years.

Live by Christmas

Klein estimates that the first Flickr-sourced images will be available to license from Christmas 2008, but says he doesn't yet know how many photographers will be involved. Getty Images' editors will have to sift through six billion images from Flickr's 47 million members in order to make their selection.

'The editing is an enormous process,' he explained. 'The first question is, is the image relevant and will it sell? Second, does the photographer want to license it? That might not always be the case - I wouldn't want to licence images of my children, for example. Third, are the images up to the technical quality we require and do we have the relevant model releases?'

He added that Getty would be unlikely to sign up a photographer with just a couple of shots, and that photographers who regularly update their images will probably do best out of the deal. 'We anticipate that thousands of photographers will sign up, just as with any other deal,' he said. 'But our experience is that less than 1000 photographers will generate the majority of the sales. They're the ones who keep refreshing.

'We're looking for photographers who can produce images that are saleable over time and can continue to produce new images. Some photographers do nothing else but shoot stock photography for Getty, and it's the ones who have new images, and generate more, who make money. Some spend very little time doing it and have very few images, and their sales reflect that.'

Professionals

Klein accepted that the move would probably be viewed with suspicion by professional photographers but added that, first, his main priority was to ensure that image-buyers have the best possible choice of imagery and, second, the deal does not pose a threat to full time professional photographers.

'I feel very strongly, and I've felt it since I founded Getty, that the key factor in any decision should be what would be helpful in getting images out to our customers,' he said. 'No one has a monopoly over all images and by partnering with Flickr we can ensure that our customers get access to a wider range of images, and images that are regionally relevant. Through Flickr we can offer greater depth and breadth.

'We know that our customers look at Google Images and Flickr, but until now they haven't been able to buy anything,' he added. 'Now they will be able to get images from Getty under a familiar licence. It makes sense to enable them to licence the best images there without undermining the existing business models. This deal is all about validation of the existing model.

'This is a difficult time for professional photographers and they may see this as more competition, but the competition is there anyway. And we have found that partnerships such as this are a good way of drawing people towards Getty Images, which is good for everyone. Once an image has been accepted, if a customer is on Flickr they will see a message stating "This image is available for licensing through Getty". That's great advertising - Flickr has more traffic than we do.'

However, rival firms are looking at the deal as a way to prevent them from reaching the pool of Flickr photographers. 'It's about locking out competition from the industry to ensure a continued, virtual monopoly,' says Allen Murabayashi, CEO of Photoshelter, another photo sharing website for professional photographers. 'Getty pays Flickr for an "exclusive" deal to be their preferred stock content distributor. They are hopeful that this infusion of content can somehow staunch the flat/declining growth of their traditional licensing revenue.'

And, while selected Flickr images will sell above the $200 mark, the financial benefits for photographers are still being worked out, according to Getty. However, a standard exclusive contract with Getty sees the photographer earn only 20% of a Royalty Free image and around 35% for Rights Managed images. 'When the agent for the sale earns a larger share of revenue than the artist who produced the work, that's just inappropriate,' says Murabayashi.

But Klein is adamant. 'We are taking user-generated content not shot by professionals, and putting it into licensing models predominantly populated by professionals. We believe these models have a very robust future. We wouldn't use them if we didn't believe that.'

Getty sale is confirmed

Getty Images was acquired by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman on 02 July but, according to Jonathan Klein, CEO of Getty Images, the change in ownership will make little difference to the day-to-day running of the company. 'Nothing is really changing for the photographers, customers or employees,' he told BJP. 'We will have to spend less time going to public investors. But their plan is to grow our business.'