Flickr turns to Getty to sell amateur photos

SAN FRANCISCO -- Flickr, a popular online photo-sharing site owned by Yahoo, is teaming up with Getty Images to offer shutterbugs a chance to turn their hobby into a moneymaking endeavor.

Under a partnership announced this week, Getty's editors will peruse Flickr to find pictures that may appeal to newspapers, magazines, book publishers, advertising agencies and other businesses.

Getty will then contact photographers who posted shots with sales potential to see if they're interested in licensing the pictures. Any ensuing sales will be split between Getty and the participating photographers.

The arrangement marks the latest example of how the Web is creating opportunities for people outside the traditional media industry to get paid for their photographic, writing or reporting skills. The phenomenon is sometimes known as "citizen journalism."

It's the first time that Flickr has set up a sales channel since the site started four years ago. Yahoo bought the service for about $35 million in 2005.

Since then, Flickr has established itself as one of the Internet's leading spots for amateur photography. More than 2 billion pictures have been posted by the site's 27 million members.