A Merger: ShutterStock Acquires BigStockPhoto

Just got the news from facebook. ShutterStock has bought over BigStockPhoto to build up their strength in discreet downloading market.

This is the first merger & acquisition in the microstock industry with one microstock agency being bought over by another. The last time a merger happened was when iStockPhoto was aquired by Getty Images. In that case, it was more like a main-stream, traditional stock agency trying to break into the newer field of microstock.

With ShutterStock's acquisistion of BigStockPhoto(BSP), the biggest question in my mind is: Do I need to pay the 30% tax to the US too for my BSP revenue? If the answer is YES, then this is really bad news for me. If the answer is NO, then it doesn't affect me much.

I also wonder whether the photos submitted to BSP from now will be reviewed by ShutterStock's reviewers? Or they will have a different set of reviewers? What about the resolution requirements?

There are a lot of questions to be answered, and I hope everything will be more clear in the coming days. I don't want to see any changes other than higher sales & payout :)