The image-protection space gets another player with the launch of ImageRights, a new Web-based service designed to track image uses and recover fees for unauthorized reproductions.
Getty contributor Greg Ceo disclosed this bit of Getty Images news on his blog: the Seattle company will no longer produce wholly owned imagery. A Getty spokesperson clarified that the program is only shuttered for 2010.
This month, microstock segment leaders iStockphoto and Shutterstock announced legal guarantees for the user-generated content sold through their Web sites. Such moves answer customer demand and make doing business more difficult for traditional agencies and micro newcomers that have focused marketing efforts on the legal hygiene of their collections.
Jonathan Klein was recently interviewed by Dan Sabbagh of London-based TimesOnline, where Klein revealed that Hellman & Friedman will own Getty Images for longer than the investment company's typical period of three-and-a-half years. Another revelation: On a non-remarkable October Thursday, Getty-owned iStockphoto did $850K worth of business.
Shepard Fairey has, apparently, lied about which photograph he used as a reference for the HOPE poster.
A survey of attendees at last weekend's Picture Agency Council of America's 14th Annual International Conference in Miami, Fla., found that, on average, stock agencies and production companies have had a 21% decline in 2009 revenues compared to 2008.
Reflex Stock has relaunched its Web site with a collection number over 15 million images, some of which are now available for as little as $0.14. The company bills the offering as recession-busting.