I have been buying images from depositphotos.com for a while for my websites and blogs. Recently I have noticed that they have changed their license agreement which requires to display a copyright notice next to each image you purchase from them. If a purchased File is reproduced in mass media (published on a blog or website, in a magazine, in a newspaper or on TV), a copyright notice must be displayed next to the File. This notice must contain the following text: "© Depositphotos.com/[Name or Nickname of the contributor]". I find this a bit ridiculous and I believe it is a big turnoff for people wanting to actually place those images in their designs. Very unprofessional for the end product. I used to buy from Depositphotos because I did not need to include a copyright notice or a credit to a contributor which made a website or blog more professional. Now, I wouldn’t buy from Depositphotos because they added this silly requirement to their license. Can you imagine a nice designed website which has 10 copyright notices on its home page? I can not. I can not even imagine how would I add a copyright notice next to a small image such as 16x16px icon. If I have to add a copyright notice or a credit to images, then I would use flickr.com or similar websites where you can find a lot of free images under creative common license. So, why would I purchase from Depositphotos now? Does anyone have similar experience with Depositphotos ? Do you know any stock photo websites that offer reasonable pricing and do not ask to add a copyright notice or a credit to images once purchased?
I use istockphoto at work, but their prices have gone WAY up in the past couple of years. At the very least you should buy a minimal amount of credits so you can take advantage of the free images they give away when photographers want to promote themselves. I always save and store those even if I don't have an immediate use for them at the time. I have a Flickr account (that does require attribution) themed around social media graphics. I was hoping if I created interesting images it would drive traffic to my student blog as part of an assignment. However, it's been more effective at driving traffic to my Flickr account! Here's the URL if you're interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/