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Pros and Cons of making my old flock public?

mythic55

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Would you sell photos of your birds to a stock photo company?

I have oodles of old photos of my passerine flock from 6 years ago. I see some stolen from my website every so often...

I got contacted by a stock photo company. Should I sell them to a company who will make them public sale?
Its nice financially boost, considering im in the middle of a avian research project.

I dont normally ask questions like this. But wen in rome... her are some photos..
*Note, other than Saya, I have only hookbills now.

Screen Shot 2020-02-17 at 3.30.01 PM.png Screen Shot 2020-02-17 at 3.29.53 PM.png
 

Dona

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Those finches are precious. I can't think of any reason not to sell your photos. No matter where they end up, you would still be providing a service, examples of healthy birds so people can learn more about different species. What could be the downside that I'm not thinking of?
 

mythic55

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What could be the downside that I'm not thinking of?
Thank you for the compliment.

I worry they will end up on some naughty site- I wont name names... which will claim the images as their own to solicit costumers.

But I guess watermarks are noting anymore- so they could still steal/photoshop them. I may be overthinking it.
 

tka

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A few things to consider:

- Bear in mind that whoever pays for the image can use them. How would you feel about your images being used to illustrate an article that's desperately misinformed about finches and advising owners to keep them in totally unsuitable conditions? Or - silly example I know - an article about 100 Ways To Eat A Finch?

- Who owns the copyright and intellectual property? Do the photos become property of the image company, and can you negotiate your continued personal use of the images?

- What percentage of the money do you get and how do they give it to you? For example, I published a (expensive, specialist) book a couple of years ago and get royalties, but my (extremely above board, household name) publisher only releases royalties in the form of a cheque once you get over £100. This is pretty standard practice, especially if you're getting fractions of a penny per image. For a big company, it's not worth setting up a payment for a grand total of £0.07 or $.0.04 or whatever your unit of currency is. Does the stock image company only release royalties once you've hit a certain threshold, and, if so, what is the threshold?
 
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Lady Jane

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Watermark them and do it!
 

Hankmacaw

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I don't see any big downside. Your birds are beautiful and obviously very healthy. So no matter what the images are used for they are magnificent representatives of their breed. Like you say they are being stolen and used anyway without control by you.
 
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