A Paris court ruled Google's book-digitization project violates France's copyright laws.
Geneva-based AbsolutVision is discounting pricing by 20% through Jan. 11. AbsolutVision specializes in JPEG2000 stock offered on a subscription basis at an annual cost of just under $50.
Largely not, at least according to industry analyst Dan Heller. All financial assumptions about the stock photo industry may well be entirely wrong.
It is not just the general public's right-click-and-save mentality image producers and agencies need to worry about. While stock-photo professionals assume that those employed in creative jobs are at least conversant with copyright, a new Deutsche Telekom survey revealed that nearly half (44%) of marketing, public relations and publishing professionals think that a royalty-free image is an image that can be used without payment. Worse yet, 37% of respondents admitted having used images illegally by swiping them off the Internet.
Should a photographer license his work as royalty-free (RF) for a 20%
royalty or rights-managed (RM) for a 40% to 50% royalty? The answer
seems simple, but maybe not. In a previous article I pointed out that there is absolutely no justification for a
distributor paying only a royalty of only 20% when an images is
licensed as RF and 40% when it is licensed as RM. It doesn't cost the
distributor any more to license an image as RF than as RM. In fact, if
anything, because negotiating time is involved in making some RM sales
it may actually cost the distributor more to license rights to an RM
image than to an RF one. Thus, if we were basing the royalty share
solely on the relative contributions of the distributor and the creator
to the sale, the RF royalty should be higher, not lower, than the
royalty for RM.
In January2010, pacaSearch will roll out a major marketing campaign
to picture buyers to promote its new pacaSearch software. At a recent demonstration at PictureHouse in New
York, Lee Horton, Multimedia Editor of K12 Inc. said, “Learning about
the functionality and usefulness of [pacaSearch] put a big smile on my
face. As a photo editor and art buyer, I search multiple sites daily.
This tool puts more control in my hands. I can keep the results pages
in tabs with fewer keystrokes, page toggles and site crashes. The
relative percentages, predictive text and term definitions create a
tight, clean search environment. With the launch of pacaSearch, I can
successfully and accurately find imagery in less time, with less
hassle, while having more agency resources at my fingertips. Thank you,
PACA.”
PhotoShelter has updated its Web site code base to offer "better reliability and easier extensibility," says chief executive officer Allen Murabayashi. The company has also introduced several frequently requested features--including the latest version of popular pricing software FotoQuote--into its online photo-archive product favored by independent photographers and stock agencies.
According to Paul Melcher, Getty Images is now offering publishers "new low prices in exchange for being the sole provider." Assuming that is true, it could easily backfire on Getty, and may point to a need for photographers to revise their marketing strategies.