Getty Images has an impressive and extensive online library of images ranging from the latest news event to historic stock photos. While these pictures have only been available to paying customers in the past, Getty Images is doing away with its watermarked lock-down on the bulk of its collection.
Thanks to this recent change, a huge chunk of Getty Images’ library is available for everyone to use with just one caveat: the photo has to be embedded along with a caption providing credit and a link to the licensing page. In the past, Getty Images has always required payments before the images are made available, but the company has recognized the risks and failures of this particular business model according to business development executive Craig Peters.
“If you want to get a Getty image today, you can find it without a watermark very simply […] you go to one of our customer sites and you right-click,” Craig explained on behalf of the company. While the move is risky for Getty Images, driving more users to their licensing sites via an embedded code is likely to be more lucrative than attempting to make every no-budget Tumblr account and WordPress Blog pay for a watermarked image.