iStockphoto survey reveals 38% of Americans unclear on legal issues when downloading content

Getty-owned, iStockphoto, who recently celebrated its ‘Punctum Day’ by giving away 100% royalties to contributors on august 25th to the tune of more than $200,000, has announced that it has conducted a survey to gain insight into consumer behaviors related to the creation and use of multimedia content. The survey of more than 1,000 people conducted by KRC Research revealed a few surprising statistics. According to the research, 33 percent of Americans are using downloaded digital content, but nearly 30 percent are unaware that permission may be required for its use. This lack of awareness spikes to 38 percent among Americans in both the 18–24 and 65 and older age groups. When asked about whether this means large numbers of people are illegally downloading images from iStockphoto, Kelly Thompson Executive Vice President at iStockphoto stated, “All of our images are protected with a watermark and our community of more than 65,000 contributors has proven to be the ultimate police force, they seem to find everything”.
Further results indicate that more than 40 percent of Americans consider photography, videography or music a hobby, but just six percent are profiting from their digital media avocations (i.e. submitting images to istockphoto and other licensing channels). “It’s become so user-friendly to upload images and video to the Internet that it’s no wonder almost half the population feels so comfortable using online digital content,” said Bruce Livingstone, CEO of iStockphoto. “We’re happy to provide these same eager digital content providers with a place to learn about and profit from their artwork. We see a vast, media-hungry customer base out there who may not know what stock means but we continue to lead the pack of stock image companies to satisfy this growing appetite for legally-sound digital content.

Additional statistics from the survey:

• 27% of Americans don’t realize they could be violating artists’ rights. People who regularly download images and videos are not necessarily aware of the laws regarding this activity.

• 26% of people who download photos, artwork, images or videos to help them with their job or business do not believe there are legal ramifications.

• 30% of people who download photos, artwork, images or videos to use on their blog, web page, or social networking site do not believe there are legal ramifications.

• 29% of people who downloaded photos, artwork, images or videos for personal uses such as scrapbooking, albums, invitations, etc., do not believe there are legal ramifications.

• Americans who say videography is a hobby of theirs are very likely to say they have downloaded digital media for personal or business use, with close to two-thirds (64%) acknowledging so, followed by photo hobbyists (52%), and those who create music as a hobby (44%).

• Interestingly, adults under 35 were consistently more likely to say they download for personal creative uses (54%), for their job or business (24%), or to use on their blog, web page, etc. (35%).

• Those with household income of $75,000 or more a year were also more likely to say they download for personal creative uses (46%) or for their job or business (39%).

Web: www.istockphoto.com

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