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Posting pics online for purchase?

Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
365
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Location
Austin
First Name
John
Last Name
Murphy
Hey Gang,

I'm seeking some advice or guidance for my sister in law. She recently was traveling in Europe and took a lot of very nice pics. She wants to upload them and make them available for purchase as "stock" photos.

She's done some research on https://copyright.gov/registration/

She is very much a newbie at this but I am encouraging and helping her entrepreneurial spirit.

Have any of you gone thru this process?

1. Should all her pics have watermarks? (they don't currently, and IDK how to add them).

2. Does anyone have recommendations on websites to work with to post pics for sale?

Any guidance appreciated!

Maybe Scott, or Rusty or both can chime in?

Thx in advance, everyone!!
 
I have a SmugAccount PRO account. That gets me the capability to set different pricing lists. For example, I have different pricing for different image types. I can also run specials, coupons and such. It's not cheap - maybe $300/yr, but I have all the flexibility I want/need to be able to customize.

As for copyright, yeah - you have to jump through hoops by registering every image (you can do that in bulk however). I'd look at it like "what are the chances of some huge commercial outfit getting my image and using it without permission or payment"? Zero. They're smarter than that.

Flip side is, there are folks out there who are grabbing images (or even purchase) and then selling them as their own. It's just a tough nut to crack to keep them 'protected'. I used to fret over it. Now? Not so much, but I DO takes some steps....

For example, I have two basic categories of images to include 1) public and 2) private.

Public images are what the general public can view, ie: my portfolio of work. These are what I want my 'footprint' to convey. These are in galleries based on the type of work I do, and want to show I am capable of shooting to the public. Generally, they are not for sale, (I do have some event work for sale) but I'm leaning towards a 'stock photo' folder with different galleries of stuff for sale (much like your sister in law proposes) dealing with items/objects/wall art and landscape.

Private images are broken down into A) freebies and B) for sale. These are always accessed via 'hidden' URL's (you can only access the galleries if you have the proper URL) The freebies are images I do gratis, or I'm paid by a client for the shoot to provide images for an event. The for sale images are just that - images I've shot on speculation I'll make sales, or I've made an arrangement to shoot an event and I generate my revenue from sales.

That's about it for me. If you have additional questions just let me know.
~m
 
Selling images on your own as stock images is a tough go. You need to know all the laws for licensing/models releases/copyrights in all the counties the shots are in. For example, did you know that the lights on the Eiffel Tower are copyrighted and you can't sell an image of the Tower lit up at night without permission? Daylight is fine.

Anyway, here is an article about sites you can submit your images to for sale as stock images. https://petapixel.com/2017/07/05/want-sell-stock-photos-heres-comparison-major-services/

Hope she tries it out and has success.
 
Thank you both, Scott and Rusty...that's a lot of good info.

"....the lights on the Eiffel Tower are copyrighted and you can't sell an image of the Tower lit up at night without permission?"

wow. I had no idea...(I wonder who owns the Eiffel Tower? The city of Paris or the country of France?). Oh well, that's for another day.
 
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