Corbis is experimenting with a new method of pricing royalty-free images – using a computer program that can take into account factors as weather and the season to evaluate how much each individual image is worth reports PDN.

‘Royalty Free Plus’ or ‘RF+’ adjusts the price of an image license based on factors like how popular the image is, how much the image cost to produce and the significance of the subject of the photo.

Processed through a algorithm, prices would be automatically set for eight pre-defined usage categories.

Corbis says the system would allow them to offer discounts to customers to entice them to purchase more images at a time, automatically raise the price of an image if it jumps in popularity, or even offer special pricing on winter-themed images in places experiencing cold weather.