In July last year, Getty Images struck up a deal with Flickr, allowing it to license selected images from the photo-sharing site. The images are to licensed under Getty Images' existing stock contracts as Rights Managed, Royalty Free or Rights Ready pictures. In return, Flickr will only make images available for licensing through Getty Images.

Over the past six months, Getty Images' editors have been browsing through more than six billion images from Flickr's 47 million members in order to make their selection. Last week, Flickr announced that Getty had started sending invitations to Flickr members to join Getty Images' Flickr Collection.

'Invitations are being sent out en masse to photographers across the Flickrverse, introducing the tens of thousands of photos that could eventually find a home within the Flickr Collection on Getty Images,' Flickr writes. 'Since the initial announcement of our partnership, we've had the opportunity to meet with a number of the Getty Images editors both in Seattle and in London and we've heard the same thing - they're inspired by the quality and creativity of our members.'

The Flickr Collection at Getty Images is expected to go live in March.

'The terms between Getty and these photographers will be exactly the same as the terms between any other photographers,' Jonathan Klein, CEO of Getty Images, told BJP last year. 'It's the same arrangement as with any of our other image partners - National Geographic, Time, Life, Dorling Kindersley and so on. The fees will be at our standard rates.'

The images selected to be featured in The Flickr Collection are exclusively chosen by Getty Images' editors. Flickr members are unable to send suggestions to be features in the collection. Furthermore, chosen members will be required to sell the selected images only through Getty Images.