Alamy's annual contributor event will take place on Nov. 7 in London.
Getty Images is continuing its foray into broader audiences and nontraditional ways of monetizing its content: Calif.-based blinkx, which claims to be the world's largest and most advanced video-search engine, now offers a Getty Images channel among some 350 others. The 26 million hours of content delivered through blinkx.com come from sources as diverse as the BBC and CBS to Real Estate TV and shoetube.
Jupiterimages has launched Photos.com Plus, which contains some 1.7 million images, including 1.3 million by Stockxpert contributors.
Three new licensing models from Denver-based Thought Equity Motion offer footage clips from Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios, Sony and others at prices that begin at $20--for select uses. As of this week, Web, corporate communication and presentation "stores" have been integrated into the Though Equity Web site.
Continuing the tradition it established last year, iStockphoto gave out $40,000 in cash and prizes. The company also let exclusive contributors keep 100% of the royalties--over $200,000--generated by their images on Monday.
When discussing content piracy, industry insiders often say that nine out of 10 images are used inappropriately--that is, without payment for a license or in violation of its terms. Though the idea of educating the public on the nature of copyright is raised at industry events, such education is not often part of routine business activities for stock photographers or agencies. Perhaps it should be. An iStockphoto-commissioned survey of 1,000 Americans shows that a third use downloaded content, and practically all such users--27% of 33%--are unaware of needing permission.
A survey of major U.S. marketers, conducted by the Association of National Advertisers, found that 87% have cut back on marketing and advertising spending. Over 50% expect to further reduce spending by the end of the year.
According to PhotoShelter, which now represents 42,000 photographers from over 160 countries, image buyers frequently request the ability to purchase hard-copy photographic prints. Today, the company launched PhotoShelter Prints in response to these requests.
Rob Haggart, the former director of photography for
Men's Journal and
Outside Magazine, has launched A Photo Folio, a service that promises to build photographer Web sites from a client perspective.