An open letter to photographers

Dear photographers,

The web is awash with news that Getty is giving away all of its images for free. Relax. It isn't. Your work has not suddenly become worthless.

This is what has changed: people who were previously not paying for Getty images, and were never going to ... will continue not paying for Getty images.

Bloggers can now legally embed Getty image into their sites for non-commercial use. These images are a chunk of real estate that Getty can make money from at a later date. What today is an image, might tomorrow be an advert, or simply nothing at all. Instead of hunting down the infringers, Getty are offering them a deal.

And here's what has not changed: The millions of commercial customers who make image licensing a rapidly growing industry … will continue to pay for images. The long tail of commercial image demand is getting longer by the day – every online business creates content, and they require beautiful images to go with it. You create these beautiful images, and they are happy to pay you a reasonable price to use them.

And another thing that has not changed: The vast majority of the money paid for these commercial images does not go to the people who create them.

On average, 74% of image fees go to the middlepeople. Yup, seventy …. four … percent goes to anyone but the photographer.

There has never been an alternative. There has never been a place where photographers can retain control over the prices of their images, and get what they ask for. There has never been a pure, open marketplace for images, where sellers – both amateur and professional - sell directly to buyers. That's why Picfair was launched.

We believe in rewarding creativity, rather than exploiting it. And it's working.

Although we are small, we are growing very quickly. Since we launched in beta last August, photographers in 46 countries across the world (including China, India, Iraq, Afghanistan...) have already added tens of thousands of images to Picfair's library. They are stunning. Every time they've done this, they've set their own price, which they can change whenever they want. We take a 20% commission on top of their images when they are licensed – if they price their image at £10, they will get £10, and we will get £2. If it costs £1, you will get £1, and we will get 20p.

Picfair images have already been used on commercial websites across the world, from banking websites looking for non-conventional stock images, to travel agencies looking for affordable ways to promote their destinations. From small acorns ….

Picfair will continue to do right by the people who make this industry what it is – you. Buyers deserve better, cheaper, fairer images. And you deserve to be rewarded for them.

Your images are valuable.

Benji Lanyado

Founder, Picfair

@benjilanyado