You can't really blame Time for looking for a deal, and you can't blame iStock for making a sale. It really is the Photographers fault he place his images with iStock in the first place. iStock has specific guidelines on how much their images cost based on usage. These are agreed to by the photog before any sales. An image like that would cost about $500 to shoot custom. So 10% for a non-buyout is fair. Keep in mind Time is a weekly, and a news editorial at that. Their cover budget is not like Vanity Fair or something like that.
Regardless of that, no "real" photographer is going to place his images in a rock bottom stock agency like that unless he is desperate anyway. Its just not good business sense.
