How much are my pictures worth?

According to Scoopt.com.. wait for it..

*drumroll*

$0.75.

Yes, I received a cheque for the grand sum of $0.75.

In March 2008, I posted a few images of a Tibet Protest to Scoopt.com, a citizen journalism agency owned by Getty Images.  Given Getty’s reputation, I could only assume that this would be worthwhile.  However, I was clearly under a misconception.

For starters, the site is ridiculous.  Until this day, my pictures are still apparently “awaiting approval”.  I can therefore not delete them, or edit them in any way, leaving them for Scoopt to basically do whatever they want with them.

Scoopt pays its users a 40% royalty fee.  That itself in rather pathetic, however I’m not a professional, so I wasn’t too bothered by this.

A few weeks later I noticed a picture of mine was posted on a Polish news website with a Scoopt/Getty watermark.  I had not been notified that my image was going to be used, so I called Scoopt up, but nobody was available to speak to me, let alone explain how an image that was still “awaiting approval” was being used by an external source.

A  few months later, I received notification that two of my pictures had been sold.  Scoopt could not disclose who had bought them, and I received around £40 (paid in Dollars even though I specified on my profile to be paid in Sterling).

Two weeks ago I received a phone call from Getty Images informing me that I had sold a picture, and asking what currency I’d like to be paid in. I asked how much it had sold for, but was told that this could not be disclosed.  I now realise why.

So, let’s think about this.  It cost Getty $0.94 to send me a cheque for $0.75.  This is around 50p in UK Sterling, and it will cost my bank around the same amount to clear the cheque. Perhaps Getty thought that in these hard economic times, I’d appreciate whatever I can get.

Furthermore, I still received the cheque in USD, contrary to telling the representative over the phone that I’d like this in GBP.  My profile also specified this.

All this leaves me wondering about the point of so-called citizen journalism websites.  I’m not out to make money from my images.  Having said that, I have sold a number of pictures (most recently through Demotix.com), for much higher sums than Getty’s generous offer.

I’m happy to let non-profit organisations use my images for free.  Amnesty International, religious groups, and a television show are just a few of the organisations that have approached me after seeing my images on Flickr.com.  I would much rather such groups make use of my pictures for nothing, than have the likes of Getty make a 60% profit from mine, as measley as the sums might be.

Right, well I’m off to spend my 75 cents!  Credit crunch?  What credit crunch?