Photography-based social networking site 500px announced that it is launching a commercial licensing service that would earn the members in the online photo community 30 percent of proceeds for each photo sold.
Called 500px Prime, here’s how it will be different from other licensing services. Prime will charge licensing fees starting at $250. Regardless of the license, 30 percent of the photo sold would go to the photographer who owns it. And, “we are using the power of the 500px community to give buyers insight into how photos will be received and perceived before licensing them. Imagine searching images by potential vitality, hero status and visceral reaction. This is revolutionary and something only 500px can do,” the company wrote it a blog entry.
500px has been popular with both amateur and pro photographers as an outlet to share their work, as well as connect and collaborate with one another. It might seem fishy for the service to now make money off this community and its creative process, but 500px Prime is actually a separate, opt-in marketplace that users have to sign up for. And, 500px says that it’s something that users have requested, and it could give greater exposure to a photographer’s work. (Flickr does something similar with Getty Images.)
“Prime is a convergence of the growing demand to be able to license the amazing photography on 500px and a growing demand for a way for our photographers to be paid for their work. Our vision is to fundamentally change the way photos are licensed. A big part of this is changing the way photo licensing companies work with photographers,” the company wrote.
“So many 500px photographers want a way to share their work in the commercial space but don’t have the time, skills, or funds to market themselves and deal with all the legalities. We want to help you do that. Let us connect you with the top buyers in the commercial licensing space,” 500px adds. Prime will essentially act as an agency and do the legwork, taking the larger cut of the proceeds.
Click here to find out more on how to participate.
(Via PetaPixel)