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RANDOM THOUGHTS 45
March 15, 2002
Sygma Staff Back At Work
After a 16 day work stoppage at Sygma's Paris office the staff returned to work on
February 12th. Management agreed to review its position on the indemnities and other
points related to the layoffs. Those staffers who were slated to be part of the
reduction in force and now waiting for specific offers.
Coalition of Visual Artists Flounders
The Coalition of Visual Artists, an attempt by various associations representing visual
artists to find ways to work together to advance causes of mutual interest to all their
members has, hit a speed bump.
Initial members of the organization included APA (Advertising Photographers of America),
ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers, EP (Editorial Photographers), GAG
(Graphic Artists Guild), IPA (Illustrator's Partnership of America), NPPA (National
Press Photographers Association) and PPA (Professional Photographers of America.
The initial goals of some of the organizations was for the CVA to hire a lobbyist to
attempt to get an anti-trust exemption for freelance creators, and changes in the
Copyright Act.
ASMP, PPA and GAG did independent assessments of the probability of success of lobbying
for antitrust exemption and determined that it was "extremely unlikely to succeed and
virtually certain to be unobtainable within the two year time line that had been set."
ASMP and PPA determined that the proposed projects were unlikely to be successful in the
alotted time frame, and for a reasonable budget. As a result they decided not to support
the projects at this time.
Jack Reznicki, speaking for the PPA said, "PPA would 'strongly' like to see an
association of associations, but feels that CVA in its current setup is not that
vehicle."
Stock Market Offices Move
The Corbis Stock Market offices are moving to the main Corbis location in New York at
902 Broadway where Corbis currently occupies three floors. The move will take place on
March 22, 2002.
There were rumors that much of the un-scanned archive would not be moved to the new
location, but it is being moved and will remain accessible for research. They are also
developing a plan to scan the best of the archive and make that imagery available on the
web site.
Harper Collins Sued For Unfair Dealings With Authors
If you had a book in print with Harper Collins between January 1993 and April 2001, you
might be a class member in an action against the publisher in New York. The New York
appellate court affirmed in December the certification of the class in this lawsuit.
Plaintiffs Ken Englade and Patricia Simpson charge that authors were not treated fairly
when Harper sold copies of its U.S. works to foreign affiliates for resale in foreign
countries. The plaintiffs accuse Harper of selling books to its affiliates at improperly
high discounts of up to 75%, leading to low author royalty payments for those sales. The
plaintiffs claim that Harper breached its implied contractual duty of fair dealing and
express royalty rates clauses.
In the next several weeks class members should receive notice from the trial court about
the action. The court's notice will contain instructions for authors who do not want to
be represented in the class-action suit, giving them a chance to opt out. Those who
remain in the suit would receive the benefits of any favorable court judgment or
settlement, but would not be permitted to bring any individual claims they may have
against Harper Collins for these same acts. If you have any questions you may contact
Robert Lax, an attorney for the plaintiffs at 212-818-9150.
Corbis Releases 14 RF Titles
Corbis has released 14 new RF titles with a total of 1180 images to add to their file of
over 75,000 RF images. All these images are also available online for single image
licensing.
The themes of the new collections include Sports with titles "Sport Graphick" and
"Sporting Extremes"; People with titles "Beautiful People," "The Look," "Wicked Women"
and Women's Hour"; Industry with titles "Communique and Medical Health;" History and
Society with titles "Casino," "Eat Natural," "Organic Food," and "School Days;"
Destinations with the title "Vacation Graphik;" and Backgrounds with the title
"Transmitter."
SuperStock Acquires Powerstock
SuperStock has acquired Powerstock and merged their UK operations with that Powerstock.
The new, merged, company will be operating under the Powerstock brand name and Ian
Lishman, founder and Managing Director of Powerstock, has been appointed Managing
Director of the merged company.
"This merge of operations will increase our image capacity by over 400% and enable us to
service almost every image requirement, from high end creative and rights-protected to
premium quality generic royalty-free. SuperStock's advanced technology will enable us to
increase the quality of our on-line service to unparalleled levels without sacrificing
the very personal service which we have made our hallmark," said Lishman.
"This is the perfect opportunity for SuperStock to become a truly international company,
where our corporate culture and our product offering perfectly caters to our global
market. Mr. Lishman adds over ten years of European experience to the senior management
of SuperStock, and Powerstock's product offering adds that European dimension that we
have been seeking," said Kai Chiang, COO of SuperStock.
BAPLA Picture Buyers' Fair
Over 1500 picture buyers have registered to visit the BAPLA Picture Buyers' Fair in
London on April 29th and 30th. Representatives from over 100 Picture Libraries and
Agencies will be in attendance to show samples of their work and talk to picture buyers.
A seminar program and welcome reception is part of the package. For more information go
to www.pbf.org.uk .
Getty Artist Relations
Getty Images has announced new positions and areas of responsibility within its Artist's
Relations division. To more accurately describe and support the full range of artists
who work with Getty Images, Photographer Relations is now known as Artist Relations.
Roger Ressmeyer, previously Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, who has
consulted with Photographer Relations for the past two years now joins Artist Relations
full time as Vice President, Artist Relations, North America, reporting to Lewis
Blackwell. Roger, a former editorial and stock photographer, takes on responsibility for
identifying emerging North American artist issues and pushing forward special projects
relevant to all photographers.
Anthony Harris, formerly Director, Photographer Relations, was recently promoted to Vice
President, Artist Relations. His mission is to support the creation of market leading
images with all contributing artists and the wider creative community. Anthony continues
to report to Lewis Blackwell and to lead the global Artist Relations team, including
managers Paul Banwell, Claudia Micare, Stephen Morelock and Michael Hayes.
With a goal of "Improved Services for all Artists," Anthony Harris, Roger Ressmeyer,
Chris Green, recently named Vice President, Creative Operations, and Peggy Willett, in a
new role as Director, Corporate Communications, will work together, and with all areas
of the company, to develop policies and improve service levels for all artists.