iStock changes royalty structure

It looks like our friends over at iStockPhoto have decided that they needed to change things up a little bit.

Well, a LOT of bit, actually...they're changing their commission structure:

http://www.istockphoto.com/article_view.php?ID=861

At first glance, this doesn't look too bad, but consider this: Currently commissions are paid based on the total number of downloads a contributor has over their stay at iStock. I'm a bronze level contributor, meaning that I have between 250 and 2500 downloads. I'm actually pretty close to cresting the 2500 level, at which point I'll be a silver level contributor, and I'll get a bump in the amount of commission that I earn for each download. It's their way of rewarding photographers who have stuck with them, built their portfolios over time, and generally have cast their lot in with iStock.

This new structure erases all that.

Now, your commission is based not on your longevity, but on how popular your images are. Didn't you just hate some of those contests back in high school where they were actually popularity contests rather than merit based contests? These changes do nothing but punish those who have slowly grown their portfolios, or who have specialized images in their photos. I mean, how often do you need a photo of, say, an original German pikelhaub from world war I? Not very often, but why punish the photographers who have such specialized imagery?

I fear the days of the small time contributors to iStockPhoto are drawing to a close...