iStock Update - Google, Microsoft and more

Large announcement on various news items over at iStock.  To of the biggest subjects are the Google deal and Microsoft deal.  Microsoft deal is done and the images are being removed while they are still working with Google Drive.  Read all the important news below.


IP Wiki

The iStock and Getty Images teams are very happy to announce the relaunch of a new and improved IP Wiki. This is a guide for contributors (and customers as well!) to some of the legal issues that can affect what you shoot and what we can accept at each site. High Fives to Shaun Lombard, Benoit Beauregard and Jeff Feltmate for all your hard work! We will update this regularly so bookmark it and visit often!

Forum Shuffle

It’s been over 10 years since the forums launched and it’s high time we did some spring cleaning. In early March, we will be making some significant changes to our current format that we hope will make it easier to find the latest news and updates from Headquarters.

Illustration Updates

Raster News

We're beyond thrilled to announce the imminent launch of a project that is long overdue and has been on our collective wish list for years...moving rasters to the illustration category!

Starting in the coming weeks, when clients search for illustrations they will see every vector and JPEG illustration on the site. From there they will be able to filter their search results to view only vector artwork if they choose. Clients looking for photos will no longer see ilustrations in their search results. Bortonia has created a post in the forums that should cover most questions about rasters and how it effects you as a contributor.

Vector Thumbnails on Getty Images

We've been hard at work the past several months working on solutions to the vector thumbnail color shift and cropping issues on both Getty Images and the Partner Program sites (Thinkstock, Photos.com).

We've made multiple improvements to how our system handles the generation of vector preview images. These improvements include far more accurate colors, less visible banding and compression, and better cropping.

Moving forward, all vector files moved to GI and the PP sites will have their previews generated by this new system. We still have a large backlog of files to move so clearing these is our biggest priority, but at least we know that their previews will be far better than those we've made in the past.

We are also working towards reprocessing the existing thumbnails over the coming weeks. Once this is complete we will let you know however please understand that moving the backlog of files is still our main priority at this time.

Google Drive Update

First, we would like to thank you for your continued patience in this process. Getty Images and Google have been working very closely together over the past few weeks to resolve your concerns with the presentation of your content in Google Drive and we are in full agreement about the importance of protecting your intellectual property. We are in the process of working together to refine the messaging around end user rights and restrictions, as well as to ensure that the metadata is associated with the images in Google Drive. This work is in progress and we are looking forward to spelling out all of the changes for you as they are completed in the near future.

Pinterest

This month, iStock will be joining the ranks of inspired pinners around the globe. Similar to our other social media channels, we'll be inspiring a broader creative audience with the quality and breadth of our content, while also driving brand awareness and traffic.

You'll notice boards like Tips and Tricks, The World of Mobile, Design Elements and Free Images to engage creatives with iStock's current free image of the week. We will also be highlighting our exclusive artists and showcasing locally relevant work; all attributed and linked accordingly. In addition to this, we will only be using small, watermarked images that link directly back to the file close up pages.

We know we’ve talked at great length in various threads about Pinterest and specifically about copyright protection. Getty Images is taking steps to add all iStock content to Image IRC in 2013. This means that all your content will be “fingerprinted”.

ImageIRC is a technology platform that enables images to be identified and attributed to their creators wherever they appear on the web. Currently, the ImageIRC contains over 139 million premium still images from 200 individual partners worldwide.

If you’d like to read up a little more on Pinterest…
Pinterest Terms of Service
Pinterest Copyright

Follow us at Pinterest.

Microsoft Update
We are on track to have all of the iStock content on Microsoft removed by the end of March.