The stock-licensing industry remains in the midst of a profound change
affecting image production, quality, pricing, distribution and use.
Some trends, such as the downward slide of average image prices, have
held for years, but there are also newer, paradigm-shifting
developments. These include a middle market finally taking shape, the
long-predicted microstock shakeout, the fascination with touch
computing and all things Apple, a change in the overall content mix
and, perhaps most importantly, an evolution of the traditional stock
business model from client service-driven boutique to online
content-delivery platform.
The recent CEPIC Congress proved fruitful in making alliances for
PicScout. The San Francisco-based company announced picking up more than
50 new photo-agency clients at the stock industry’s largest
international gathering.
On Thursday, Toronto-based Mastefile acquired Norwegian microstock Crestock. Both companies announced the deal late on Friday, without disclosing financial details.
Two-year-old Cambridge, Mass.-based ImageRights International has
launched a free version of its flagship service, which helps
photographers and illustrators monitor the use of their content and
recover licensing fees.
The Picture Archive Council of America has filed an
amicus—“friend
of the court”—brief in Muench Photography, Inc. v. Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company and R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company,
pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District
of New York. PACA is urging the court to reconsider a
recent summary judgment that deemed Corbis’ copyright registration processes to be invalid.
So says Polylooks, the microstock owned by T-Mobile parent Deutsche
Telecom, which just surveyed 2,200 Brits and says the results make for
interesting reading.
After PicScout announced that it now offers image crediting free of charge,
some questioned the terms of use on the PicScout signup page, which
describe having to pay fees. PicScout has clarified the details of the
free and pay-for portions of its ImageIRC service.