27 votes

500px will no longer allow photographers to license their photos under Creative Commons, and closes 500px Marketplace

9 comments

  1. [3]
    Prometheus720
    Link
    That was an awfully unfair move, I must say. If you don't fit the bottom line, I guess you're out! But don't worry, you can use OUR license instead of CC. More walled gardens do not a beautiful...

    That was an awfully unfair move, I must say. If you don't fit the bottom line, I guess you're out!

    But don't worry, you can use OUR license instead of CC.

    More walled gardens do not a beautiful world make.

    15 votes
    1. [2]
      svenkatesh
      Link Parent
      It's not unfair. It's simply capitalism.

      It's not unfair. It's simply capitalism.

      3 votes
      1. Prometheus720
        Link Parent
        It's unfair to their contributors. Capitalism is an economic philosophy, not a moral one. You can engage in capitalism without flipping the bird to the people who helped build your product.

        It's unfair to their contributors. Capitalism is an economic philosophy, not a moral one. You can engage in capitalism without flipping the bird to the people who helped build your product.

        11 votes
  2. Eva
    Link
    Archive Team's archiving it all now, I think.

    Archive Team's archiving it all now, I think.

    8 votes
  3. [3]
    rkcr
    Link
    These are the sort of changes a dying company makes - I don't expect 500px to last much longer.

    These are the sort of changes a dying company makes - I don't expect 500px to last much longer.

    6 votes
    1. svenkatesh
      Link Parent
      The change came on the heels of being acquired by a Chinese group.

      The change came on the heels of being acquired by a Chinese group.

      4 votes
    2. SourceContribute
      Link Parent
      It actually looks like they're closing the marketplace to favour the existing marketplaces of Getty and Visual China Group. So at least that move makes sense, why not consolidate the marketplace...

      It actually looks like they're closing the marketplace to favour the existing marketplaces of Getty and Visual China Group. So at least that move makes sense, why not consolidate the marketplace instead of duplicating work?

      But then removing Creative Commons-licensed works and forcing them to be licensed in a different way is anti-competitive behaviour and says to the community that they're only good for profits.

      2 votes
  4. rodya
    Link
    Unsplash is going to shit too, they took away "new" page and started slipping in sponsored photos. Anyone know another good source for high resolution (1440p+) wallpapers?

    Unsplash is going to shit too, they took away "new" page and started slipping in sponsored photos. Anyone know another good source for high resolution (1440p+) wallpapers?

    2 votes
  5. oneforall
    Link
    It really sucks that photographers will no longer be able to set CC terms - AND that their Creative Commons works won't be downloadable or searchable anymore. They say that photographers can opt...

    The company says that it also isn’t providing a migration plan for contributors with existing Creative Commons images, and that users won’t be able to download or search for such images.

    It really sucks that photographers will no longer be able to set CC terms - AND that their Creative Commons works won't be downloadable or searchable anymore. They say that photographers can opt out of 500px's new global distribution terms... but none of that makes amends for the dedication and talent those photographers contributed to 500px beforehand.

    Also, these new changes came about with very short notice. It's terrible, and unfair...

    500px says that... the reason for the shift was that they weren’t seeing a lot of activity with Creative Commons images...

    Yeah, okay. CC has been a ubiquitous source for everything from wikis to articles for many years. My cynical side says this decision was actually about dollars versus demand.

    1 vote