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Comment by EMM_386 | Hacker News Reader

> After interacting with the team at Getty Images more and better understanding their long-term vision, we realized we shared so much alignment that going at this together could be much more impactful than going at it separately.

Of course they will say that now, but isn't Unsplash a direct threat to Getty's bottom line?

Unsplash images are free for commercial and non-commercial purposes with no permission needed. The only limitation is that you can't sell them or start a competing service.

How long before this changes?

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Absolutely. This is a dark day for 'open source' images.

It’s hard to find examples of acquisitions that were good for the customers or the employees.

in general i would agree, but i think that github might be one exception, the free plan was expanded to include private repo's, the redesign is annoying but usable

they have made some mistakes with things like the dmca notice on youtube-dl but thankfully restored it and seem to be willing to help fight for it

'How long before this changes?'

I'd guess it will be a gradual process that starts with a constant nag that you can find more and better images if only you hand over your card details.

Ultimately, it will be just another Getty brand.

Unsplash images are free for commercial and non-commercial purposes with no permission needed. The only limitation is that you can't sell them or start a competing service.

My theory is Getty is really paying for the right to sell them. Getty has a lot of very large customers who pay for access to their libraries and adding a new substantial library to their plans could benefit them.

I'm thinking it's a bit like when AWS takes something like MongoDB and rolls out DocumentDB.. there are companies who are so entrenched with their AWS accounts that it seems more appealing than dealing with the hassle of opening a separate account and doing all 'the legal' for another service, even if it's free/cheaper. If a large agency or institution has a process around Getty and the way they assign rights and manage licenses, maybe they'll happily pay for the Unsplash library from Getty even if they could get it free separately(?)

(Almost every website that features free images already also shows ads from websites like Getty Images and iStockphoto.)

I can also see it happen that Unsplash remains free forever, but that it will be used to lead more people to Getty Images. And that's very understandable from a Getty Images point of view, right?

My guess would be that unsplash will start adding source file size limits (that can unlocked with a Getty account) and long term quality and quantity will stagnate as its used as an acquisition funnel for their paid services

The nervous thing is that it would need to constantly defend its ROI to survive

I recently started uploading pictures to Unsplash. I'm not sure I'll continue with that.

Won't be long before they are Getty's images and not yours - or maybe I'm cynical?

I with you here. I love Unsplash- but I'm afraid it's doomed now.

Yep. I used to love istockphoto before Getty purchased it and slowly eliminated it. The same will happen to Unsplash.

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