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RIGHTSPRING
October 11, 2000
Peter Howe has combined forces with a technology company in Southern California, and
will shortly offer a technology and service platform to stock agencies that will enable
them to distribute their content worldwide on the web.
The pricing for these services is still being worked out, but an announcement is
expected within a couple weeks. The basic charge for this service will be a percentage
of sales. There will be an a la carte menu of services, and agencies will be able to
choose the services they need.
The technology company has developed a database that they have been using very
successfully in the music industry. They recognized that the already developed
technology is very applicable to the stock photo industry, and thus the reason for
making this offering.
Each agency will have its own portal, with its own custom front end, which it can
promote to its customers. The back end will be maintained in a single database. One of
the major advantages to the small and medium sized agency is that they do not have to
get involved with learning and keeping up with all the technology issues. The
technology company will guarantee to maintain a server on a 24x7 basis and to make sure
that the technology used is always current.
Rightspring is a technology service provider not a content company. They do not plan to
negotiate or set prices for the sellers. Initially, they will deal only with stock
agencies who have drawn a body of content together and are prepared to keyword, market
their service, negotiate prices and handle their own collections. Rightspring will
consider dealing with certain individual photographers who have the infrastructure to
respond in a timely manner to client requests, negotiate and collect.
They expect to be up on-line by January 15th.
"Our goal is to level the technology playing field for the small supplier," says Peter
Howe. "We believe that a large percentage of the buyers want to work with smaller
organizations who supply specialist services and content. We want to help these smaller
organizations compete and remove the technology issues from consideration."