otsphoto

So now they're also taking money back from us? A lot of adjustments are from Clifton, USA. What kind of respectful business works this way? Shutterstock is turning into garbage, with minimal cuts to contributors and a lot of accepted rubbish.

I'm not sure, to be honest. My only guess is that they don't want any potential conflict with the third party (owner) involved, especially if the owner could bother buyers.

Btw, I had an issue with a dog owner who changed her mind after years of photos being in my portfolio and asked me to delete them. I contacted shutterstock about it to assess the situation. They told me that in such case the release won't matter and they will ask you to delete photos either way. Other stock agencies informed me that release doesn't matter either, but it's up to me wether I want to take the photos down or not. I also take photos of pedigreed animals. So just info, for your consideration.

If the animal isn't well known (for example the grumpy cat), or doesn't have any rare/recogniseable markings, then you don't need a release.

December is going average. Not bad, pretty expected for holiday season. I just had a lot of SOD of 1.74 for two days straight, this seems very weird.