Last week Calgary-headquartered microstock photo site iStockphoto became the first micropayment royalty-free image, video and audio provider to legally guarantee all files in its collection – at no cost to the customer. The free insurance, which is provided automatically on all content purchased through the site, offers to pay up to $10K to cover legal fees and damages should a dispute arise.
Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today notes that though other stock photo agencies offer similar guarantees in their contracts, iStockphoto has become the first micropayment service to offer such a guarantee. Bailey brings up another interesting twist – iStockphoto is owned by the well-known stock photo agency Getty Images who has a long-standing history of sending out legal threats and demanding at least a thousand dollars per infringement for use of their photos.
