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Articles from February 2019
Did you know it takes Creatives twice as long to find an image that will work for their project as it did just 4 years ago? This is one of the facts that was uncovered in
Visualsteam’s Annual Survey of Creative Pros. This 35-page report is packed with other information and insights that should help image licensors and image creators as they plan for the future. The report can be purchased for $69.95 by contacting
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Image creators need better information about the kind of content that is selling. Are customers looking at higher priced content? Can creators earn more money if their images are in a collection like Offset where images are licensed for much higher prices? Should creators produce more stills? Should they buy new equipment and start shooting video that sells for higher prices? Shutterstock’s
quarterly reports to investors aren’t very helpful in this regard.
Shutterstock has reported Q4 2018 revenue of
$162.1 million up $6.7% compared to Q4 2017. (The comparison excludes the 2017 revenue from Webdam which was divested in Q1 2018.) The revenue was also up $9.5 million from Q3 2018. Revenue per download averaged $3.40 per image, compared to $3.33 in Q4 2017. (Much of this growth is probably due to increased sales of video content offered at much higher prices than still image content.)
CEPIC expresses its extreme disappointment at the EU copyright Directive as we see that last minute compromises were reached that will directly hurt CEPIC members specialized in fine art, history and vintage photography. Some of these libraries are attached to cultural institutions and contribute to their financing – this not only by “selling postcards” as the agreed compromise text implies.
An agent who has operated a small, specialist agency specializing in RM licensing for years contacted me recently and asked the following question. “I’m reworking (or trying to figure out) image pricing in bundle form (similar to OFFSET STOCK PHOTOS). I’m wondering if you’ve talked to them about whether their program might/might not be working?" Here’s my response.
Pearson has sold its U.S. schools course materials business to the private equity groups
Nexus Capital Management LP for $250 million. Nexus will pay an initial $25 million and a further $225 million by way of a vendor note due in the next three to five years for the business, which provides textbooks and resources for students from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Australian photographer
Lisa Saad has been accused of using other people’s photos to compete in, and win, various photo competitions in in Australia, the United States and other countries.
Shutterstock will report its fourth quarter 2018 numbers on February 26, 2019. If the last three years are any indication, it is unlikely that there will be much evidence of additional sales growth. I’ve put together a chart of quarter-by-quarter sales since the beginning of 2014. The chart offers some interesting insights, particularly in regard to what has been happening in the last three years since the beginning of 2016.
The European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the Commission have come to a political agreement to make the copyright rules fit for digital era in Europe. This will bring tangible benefits to all creative sectors including the press, researchers, educators, cultural heritage institutions, and citizens.
Spending for weddings in the U.S. in 2018 was down 4% from $25,764 in 2017 to $24,723 in 2018. The photography segment of this spending breaks down as follows according to The Wedding Report.
Kodak, now going by the name of
Kodak Alaris. has announced the sale of its PPF (Paper, Photochemicals and Film) unit as soon as March 2019. Just last month they promised to re-introduce
Ektachrome in 120 and sheet film later this year, but this week it was reported that they will be selling the company.
We missed the announcement last December that
Mint Images had signed a worldwide exclusive distribution agreement with Spaces Images to represent the over 15,000 images its collection. These images are now available for direct licensing from Mint Images, and through Mint’s distribution partners around the world.
If you want to know what it takes to be successful in stock photography you may want to listen to what Steve Heap and Todd Klassy have to say. Both approach the stock business in non-traditional ways. Both have seen continued annual growth in revenue in the last few years despite the fact that many other photographers are seeing a plateau or decline in revenue.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California recently granted Google's motion to dismiss the antitrust claim filed by
Dreamstime.com LLC but allowed claims of breach of contract and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing to move forward.
Sources tell me that Getty is demanding that U.S. agencies with RM images in its collection make those RM images fully exclusive through gettyimages.com. Otherwise Getty will terminate the Agreement. One theory for doing this is that Getty wants to be able to grant exclusive licenses through e-commerce sales. If Getty knows they have total control of a given image, then they would be able to grant exclusive licenses without the need to do any checking with the parent agency that represents the image to see if exclusive rights are available. This would be similar to the arrangement that Stocksy has with its photographers.
Last week I reported on Apple’s new
global photography contest. The 10 winning images will be used extensively in a massive advertising campaign including product packaging and billboards. The official contest rules say the winning entries will have “No cash value.”
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This stock photography news site focuses on the business side of photography with a special emphasis on stock photography. Our goal is to help photographers maximize their earnings based on the quality of their work and the commitment they are prepared to make to the trade. The information provided will be applicable to part-timers as well as full time professional photographers. We’ll leave it to others to teach photographers how to take better pictures.
Jim Pickerell launched his career as a photographer in 1963. In 1990 he began publishing a regular newsletter on stock photography. In 1995 the information was made available online as well as in print and was gradually expanded to a daily service.
Click here for Pickerell's full biography.
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