iStock is an online royalty free, international micro stock photography provider based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The firm offers millions of photos, illustrations, clip art, videos and audio tracks. Artists, designers and photographers worldwide contribute their work to iStock collections in return for royalties. Nearly half a million new photos, illustrations, videos and audio files, are added each month. History The company was founded by Bruce Livingstone in May 2000, as iStockphoto, a free stock imagery website supported by Livingstone's web development firm, Evolvs Media. iStock pioneered the crowd-sourced stock industry and became the original source for user-generated stock photos, vectors and illustrations, and video clips. It began charging money in 2001 and quickly became profitable. On February 9, 2006, the firm was acquired by Getty Images for $50 million USD. Livingstone promised that the site would continue "functioning independently with the benefits of Getty Images, yet, very importantly for them and us, autonomy." On September 18, 2006, the site experienced the first benefits of the new ownership: a Controlled vocabulary keyword taxonomy borrowed from Getty Images. As of March 31, 2007, iStockpro closed. iStockpro was a more expensive version of iStockphoto that was never as popular as iStockphoto, and became redundant after the acquisition by Getty Images. On April 1, 2008 Getty Images disclosed, as part of its agreement to be sold to a private equity firm, that iStockphoto's revenue in 2007 was $71.9 million USD of which $20.9 million (29%) was paid to contributors. Founder and CEO Livingstone left iStockphoto in 2009. He went on to co-found competitor Stocksy United in 2013. In 2013, iStockphoto was rebranded as iStock by Getty Images, removing the word 'photo' to convey that the company offers stock media other than just photography, such as vector illustrations, audio, and video. In 2020, iStock began offering weekly complimentary stock photos from its exclusive Signature collection, as well as monthly free illustrations and video clips. Contributors iStock works with over 300,000 contributors globally, thousands of which are exclusive and create content solely for the platform. Contributing photographers apply by uploading 3-6 sample images, illustrations, or videos to the Contributor by Getty Images app, which is available on App Store and Google Play. The content is reviewed and if successful, applicants are invited to become either a Getty Images or iStock contributor. Contributors receive royalties each time their content is licensed. Royalty rates start at 15%