Important News for Zoonar Contributors

It’s essential to stay on top of updates from the microstock sites used to earn income, such as Zoonar. Usually, agencies announce changes via their email newsletters. The catch is that these updates are typically in English, so many either struggle to understand them or simply don’t take the time to read them.

Not long ago, the microstock site Zoonar sent contributors an email with some important information. Here is the translated text of that email:

Dear contributor,

We have important news for you:

1. We are pleased to introduce our new image sales partner — Getty Images. At this time, you can upload images for sale through the stock platform only if they do not require releases (model or property).

Around mid-2012, we plan to offer a new releases tool that will make it possible to upload work requiring a release. Getty Images is a major company that can generate very strong sales via platforms like Jupiterimages and Thinkstock, which is why many photographers prefer selling their work through Getty.

We are very eager to see how many submissions from our contributors Getty Images will accept. We don’t yet know their exact requirements due to the lack of previous experience with this type of collaboration, but we hope the majority of your photos will be accepted. Please note there are restrictions — for example, images must not be sold on agencies such as Veer or Corbis.

2. We are also pleased to share the number of files accepted via our partner program. Due to higher revenue generated by partners like Getty, AGE, DPP Fotofinder, and others, we are receiving many more submissions than we did several months ago. Unfortunately, our costs for keywording, inspection, translation, cataloging, and removal have also increased significantly.

To maintain and further expand our partner network, we must reduce contributor royalties from 60% to 50%. Accordingly, we are updating our contributor terms effective June 1, 2012. From that date, commissions on sales via our partner network will be 50%. Royalties for images sold directly through Zoonar will remain unchanged at up to 80%.

Because these changes affect the contributor agreement as of 01.06.2012, you have a special right to terminate the contract within four weeks of receiving this letter. If you do not wish to sell via our partner network and would like to remove your images from partner platforms, please notify us at [info@zoonar.com](mailto:info@zoonar.com), including your username and the names of partner agencies where you do not want to distribute your work. This must be done by 30.04.2012.

We sincerely hope for your understanding and assure you that any additional revenue will be reinvested into expanding our partner network and increasing your sales.

Sincerely,
Your Zoonar Team