A Blow for Online Image Sharing With the Close of 500px Features

• 500px users can no longer license their work with Creative Commons or use the 500px Marketplace feature.
• The alternative options for photographers and those looking for stock images are Getty Images or Visual China Group.
• This shows how much the online arena has changed over the past decade regarding image sharing.

It may come as a shock that 500px, one of the most popular photography marketplaces, is now essentially closing some of its doors. What’s behind the changes that 500px announced recently? Firstly, they put a stop to licensing through Creative Commons and now the Marketplace feature for stock photos has been canceled from July 1 onwards.

Why did these changes happen? According to 500px, there is simply not enough people using the CC images anymore. As it wasn’t a viable plan anymore it was time for a change to increase revenue. This is probably true since the past decade has seen changes in the world of online image sharing. Instagram and Flickr - like 500px - connect their users to quality images & their user groups are much larger.

Image Courtesy of TheVerge.com

So, what is the alternative for passionate photographers who grew accustomed to 500px? Some would argue the new alternatives are better as you’ll be redirected to Getty Images or Visual China Group for distribution partnerships. Royalty rates will stay the same and users can customize usage such as not wanting global distribution.

Furthermore, who will frown at this sudden change in 500px? Most likely those who didn’t see the approaching change, lacking time to download the content before it disappears off the Internet. Then, photographers who don’t want to sell images but simply share them with a community and then there are those users who prefer access to freely available images instead of large corporations.

Are you a 500px user? How does this change impact your functioning? Leave your comments below and if you want more updates on this matter, follow TechNadu on Facebook as well as on Twitter.