What happened? $149 Premium footage and I get $2.00 Royalty

@stevedonaldson Those are the new realities and have been for awhile, TikTok is the biggest app for video on the planet and it's not only vertical, it's HD only and all shot with cell phones, yes, standards have fallen but that's the new reality, problem is you won't get better royalties for your work.....that ship has sailed, these stock video websites have deals with partners including Bytedance/TikTok and others so you're work goes to them anyways and everything else that sells you get a couple of dollars for at best....as you're seeing.

Game over.

Just had an email reply from Pon5 asking me to confirm that I want to delete my account and all shots. It's a matter of principle. I'm out. I wonder how many people would have to do this before it would make a difference.

@PiaPoi, I doubt anyone who deletes their content is really "out", I strongly suspect P5/SS have a backup copy on their servers which they still sell to the partners and Ai companies, otherwise they would want to stay and give some incentive for people to stay but they're not.

Since Pond was acquired by SS, the game is over. Creators need to understand that there is a vested interest in the platform, even when it is harmful to them. There are platforms out there that are much more profitable in an exclusive mode. Don't rely on reading every change in terms. Don't take anything in the agreements seriously. Save your work. Leave!

As also a buyer of footage for projects, I am shocked you all are only getting pennies on the dollar now. Here I thought the high cost for footage that I paid was mainly going to the creator and seller of the footage and not the site. SS seems to be buying up everything great and then changing it for the worse.

@CCHeritage I think this is why it's the end of the industry as we knew it, the Ai content may replace video that was once shot with a camera, maybe some will be able to make a living at it provided they can create massive numbers of Ai clips to basically game the search.

Can't make a living at it with a camera anymore, not when agencies pay so little and sales are sow few and far between in this market and sea of millions of clips, I don't think it's even a hobby anymore.