Getty Images has notified agencies (Image Partners), whose work is currently being licensed by Photolibrary, of Getty’s intention to “retire” (close down) all the Photolibrary websites during the last quarter of 2011.
The following letter was received by image suppliers.
We recently announced the completion of Getty Images’ acquisition of Photolibrary. We have since evaluated the various Photolibrary offerings and have decided that we will retire the websites previously owned and operated by Photolibrary (the “Photolibrary Websites”) during the last quarter of this year.
This letter, written by Getty Images on behalf of Photolibrary Group, shall serve as formal notice of termination of the License Agreement between [agency]., and Photolibrary PTY Limited “Photolibrary”, effective as of [date] (the “Agreement”), such termination to be effective when the Photolibrary Websites are retired (the “Termination Date”). We will provide you with advance written notice of the Termination Date. Capitalized terms used in this letter and not defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in the agreement.
When asked for additional clarification Jodi Einhom, Getty Images Public Relations Manager said, “As we integrate our two companies, decisions will be made about how to best manage any changes and this information will be communicated directly to image partners.”
It is unclear if any of the Image Partners will be offered new Getty Images agreements.
It is unclear if individual photographers currently represented by Photolibrary will have any of their images moved to the Getty website and, if so, in what brand the images might be placed. Undoubtedly, any photographer whose images are moved to the Getty site will be required to sign the new Getty Images contributor agreement.
The individuals and brands that are lucky enough to have their images accepted for the Getty site may find that they make many fewer sales than was the case when their images were being licensed by Photolibrary. Despite the fact that Getty Images makes many more sales on a daily basis than Photolibrary ever made, a great deal depends on where an image appears in the search return order. A high percentage of the images that appear early in the Getty Images search return order are in the Digital Vision, Lifesize, Stone+, PhotoDisc, The Image Bank, Taxi, Photographer's Choice and Flickr brands. There are over 150 other brands on the creative section of gettyimages.com, but very few or their images appear early in the search return order. See
here for more details on search return order.