Flickr Adds Program to Help Users Seek Licensing Gigs
Flickr’s popular service allows users to upload their photographic work and have it recognized by a large community, with the ability to specify copyright of your material. There has been no way for users on Flickr to share their content and make a profit, however; you can either share your content under a Creative Commons license, meaning it is free to be used as long as certain criteria are followed (mainly credit attribution and whether it can be used for commercial purposes), or simply claim full copyright and keep your content contained to Flickr’s site. Now, Flickr is creating a program to help people who want to share their content but feel their work deserves compensation to license their photos to various entities seeking creative content.
“Curated Connections” licensing
In a recent blog post, Flickr announced its new program and what it meant for Flickr users:
Today we are excited to introduce a new way for you to partner with photo agencies, editors, bloggers and other creative minds who are seeking original content like yours. Our curatorial team will provide assistance, outreach and connectivity to help you get your photos licensed!
Getting discovered for creative opportunities is as easy as being a Flickr member and uploading the photos you love. Flickr’s curators are searching for exciting and credible opportunities for you to share your exceptional photography. They will reach out to you via Flickr Mail and provide details on Flickr’s licensing program.
Other than that, the details of the new licensing program are rather vague, but the idea itself makes sense for Flickr’s parent company, Yahoo. Offer users a service, collect portion of the profits; it looks like a win-win situation for now.
However, “Curate Connections” is only new to Flickr, not the Internet. Sites like 500px already provide opportunities for people to independently license their photography and other images, while otheres like deviantArt and Behance let artists display their work and often promote ways to license or purchase it as well. With no details regarding the licensing terms and mysterious “don’t call us, we’ll call you” approach, there’s no way to tell if this licensing program will be lucrative for Flickr users, or just for Yahoo Inc.