I haven't mentioned anything until now, but this is the reason I lost my job at the newspaper. There are other reasons, but this is the main cause of it. I worked as an "intern" for nearly 6 months. This was my baptism by fire into the editorial photography world, so I just paid my dues like everyone else before. Because there were no staff jobs available, I signed a contract to be a stringer. Basically an independent contractor who got paid per photo submission.
About a month ago, a new contract was forced upon me. Essentially, it was modeled after this new Getty deal and the use of an outside agency that meant a 50%-65% pay cut for me. It meant giving up the rights to my photos completely so that they could be run in additional publications without paying me. I refused to sign and exchanged words with the editor. I got to live everyone's dream and told the boss to roll up that contract and cram it up his #ss.
Stuff like this will continue to happen as long as people let it happen. If your boss walked into your workplace tomorrow and told everyone they were getting a 50% pay cut effective immediately, the sad truth is, the vast majority of workers wouldn't have the stones to walk away.
There needs to be a revolution in this industry, or it's simply going to die.