According to Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler, there is a strong possibility that Jupiterimages will enter the celebrity imagery space. Though Meckler is still unsure of any specifics, he promises the new offering will be original if it launches. In addition, there has been speculation about the possibility of a similar move by the Associated Press.
At yesterday's Goldman Sachs 2007 Communacopia Conference, Jonathan Klein told investment analysts that about 75% of Getty Images' business is down. "Our core stock-photography business has stopped growing. In fact, it is declining," he said. Analysts were not surprised, noting that Getty stock hit a 52-week low last Tuesday.
Masterfile Corp.'s lawsuit against J.V. Trading concluded with the District Court of New York awarding the stock agency five times its usual licensing fee for online use of rights-managed imagery. The court granted the full extent of damages requested, including statutory damages and attorney's fees, for a total of $46,816.91.
Basing price on the size of a digital file is extremely unfair to the customer, as well as the seller. File size has almost no relationship to how an image will eventually be used, or the value the customer will receive from its usage.
If an amateur produces a great photo that meets the needs of a commercial customer, there is no reason why the commercial customer should expect to pay the amateur less than a pro. The price should be based on the value of the image to the customer, regardless of who produced it.
Alamy CEO James West has announced the agency's plans to launch a number of new products designed to broaden the agency's customer base and expand its pricing strategy. In a more surprising move, the privately held Alamy will also make its financial information public.
Corbis has launched a microsite to provide images and footage to ad agencies, campaigns and news outlets during the 2008 U.S. elections. The company pegs related ad spending as exceeding $3 billion, or nearly double that of the last presidential race. The two areas of significant spending increases are anticipated on the Web and in newspapers.
With the launch of the PhotoShelter Collection, the company that previously specialized in providing online archiving and e-commerce solutions has gone into the business of stock licensing.
The soon-to-launch royalty-free portal BrightQube.com is starting to make viral circles around the blogosphere. Though promises of revolutionizing image search no longer impress industry insiders, BrightQube's search interface is a new, techno-savvy and time-efficient twist on the industry-standard engine.
There has been an explosion of customers who want to use imagery, but the majority of these new clients have small budgets for photography. Meanwhile, sales to traditional stock photo customers have been sluggish for some time, and there are signs their needs will decline.