Stock pictures, events storage and much more

Have you ever wanted to sell your pictures? Well theimagefile may be what your looking for, it has a great interface and is being updated all the time. If you are an events photographer and want to store your events conveniently so your clients can buy from a website or do you have the need of image retouching theimagefile does all this.

Theimagefile, based in Chertsey, Surrey and Bellevue, Seattle W.A. was founded in 2002 to provide online image sales, distribution and management services to a broad customer base including image libraries, photographers and corporate clients. The system was launched as a fully tested product at the end of 2004 and as version 2.0 in spring of 2005. The company has rapidly established a reputation for a high level of expertise in generating and maximising revenue from image collections of all types as well as being an inspirational source of powerful imagery to publishers, advertisers, editors and marketers around the world. You can have a no commitment try for only £1.00 www.theimagefile.com/try  if you do take up an account please mention us.

Change needed in photographers’ contracts with image libraries

· Do image libraries do enough to justify a 50% sales commission?
· Image libraries not taking their fair share of risk

Restrictive image library contracts are preventing photographers from spreading their risk and maximising their income by changing libraries easily or selling through more
than one library at a time claims digital image library theimagefile. According to theimagefile, when a photographer signs a contract with a major image
library the photographer can be bound by an exclusivity agreement that prevents him or her selling their work through any other library. A further clause usually prevents
the photographer moving to a rival library within the first year of the agreement and in some cases the images already submitted can be under contract for up to seven
years.

Howard Butterfield, Director of theimagefile, comments: “The risk photographers’ face joining a major image library is that the library will be unsuccessful in selling
their work. Why shouldn’t photographers be able to recoup their investment by trying to sell through other libraries as well?”
In other creative industries, such as print or music publishing, where the creative is also tied to one publisher at a time, publishers and agents pay substantial upfront costs
before seeing a return on their investment says theimagefile.

 “Media publishers generally invest significant amounts of money in their creatives before seeing any return. The exclusive access they have to the creative’s work is a legitimate means of protecting their investment.” “Image libraries make a much smaller upfront investment in photographers so demanding exclusive rights to their work is harder to justify.” “Image libraries don’t help pay for a shoot or equipment so you have to ask what they do for their 50% commission.” by denying access to their rivals image libraries are very likely restricting photographers’ sales.
“Buyers of stock images use many different libraries to get the right images. By being limited to using a single library photographers could be missing out on opportunities
to sell their work.”