It’s All In A Caption: Finding The Right Image

Posted on 4/19/2011 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (1)

In December the United States Postal Service released 3 billion copies of a first-class postage stamp that showed a low angle close up of the head and crown of the Statue of Liberty, symbol of American freedom.
 
About a month ago the service was shocked to discover that the image supplied by Getty Images was not of the 305 foot tall statue designed by sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and located on Liberty Island off the tip of Manhattan, but of a half-sized replica outside the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Roy Betts, as USPS spokesman said, "We certainly regret having made the error." But he also partly blamed Getty Images for ambiguously labeling the image in its database. While the image is simply titled "Statue of Liberty," the keywords attached include "Nevada" and "Replica Statue of Liberty - Las Vegas," but Betts say this information was added only after the USPS raised the point with Getty.



According to Reuters, Yvette Monet, a spokeswoman for MGM Resorts International, which owns the New York-New York Hotel, said, "We all thought that the Post Office was honoring just one great American institution, but in reality it was honoring two -- The Statue of Liberty and Las Vegas -- with just one stamp. Regardless of how it came about, New York-New York is honored to be the first Las Vegas casino resort to be on a U.S. stamp."

The USPS intends to correct the catalog information connected with the stamp and live with the error. It has no plans to issue a recall.


Copyright © 2011 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.  

Comments

  • Owen Franken Posted Apr 19, 2011
    and Property release?

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