Friday, June 18, 2010

Flickr, Getty Images Expand User-Generated Photo Effort

Photo sharing site Flickr and photo licensing firm Getty Images have expanded their effort to source user-generated photos from the Flickr photo sharing site, the firms said Friday. According to Flickr, which is owned by Yahoo, it has launched a new "Request to License" program via Getty Images, which allows any photographer to mark their photos as licensable through Getty Images. Flickr said that users who enable the "Request to License" feature will connect interested buyers with a representative from Getty Images, who will handle details like permissions, releases, and pricing on those images for photographers. Previously, Getty Images had created a "Flickr Collection on Getty Images" which curated photos from the Flickr site for licensing, but required the approval of Getty editors for photo inclusion; the new effort helps instead drive requests for photo licensing to Getty directly from user interest.