TAO Launches Rights-Managed Silk Collection

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 49 Words | Posted 12/12/2008 | Comments
Slik offers images of modern and historical China.

Splash News, Big Stage Let Users Get into Celebrity Photos

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 115 Words | Posted 12/12/2008 | Comments
Big Stage Entertainment and Splash News are collaborating to allow consumers to insert their faces into photos featuring Hollywood stars.

Masterfile Unveils the Next Search Engine

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 584 Words | Posted 12/12/2008 | Comments
Live for only a couple of days and yet to be officially announced, the new interface of the Canadian agency represents a paradigm shift—if not a giant leap—in stock-image search.

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Greenberg Appeal in National Geographic Case

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 313 Words | Posted 12/11/2008 | Comments (4)
An 11-year saga of Greenberg v. National Geographic Society has concluded with the Supreme Court refusing to hear photographer Jerry Greenberg's latest appeal. The two rulings that now set the legal precedent for reproducing copyrighted freelancer content will be the July 2008 decision of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and an earlier Supreme Court decision in Tasini v. The New York Times.

Getty Images Expands Celebrity Portraiture Offering

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 251 Words | Posted 12/11/2008 | Comments
Getty Images has added exclusive images by Patrick Hoelck, Kurt Iswarienko, Tyler Shields and Yu Tsai to its celebrity portraiture brand Contour. The company also announced the acquisition of Britain's Redferns music picture library, further expanding its celebrity and entertainment offering.

Jupitermedia/Getty Deal Cleared, Background Revealed

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 526 Words | Posted 12/10/2008 | Comments
Jupitermedia announced that the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission have granted early termination of the review period for the proposed sale of Jupiterimages to Getty Images. Jupitermedia also filed a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosing the details of negotiations that went back to late 2006.

NordicPhotos Acquires Spegla

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 52 Words | Posted 12/10/2008 | Comments
Iceland agency continues acquisition spree.

Ad Forecasts Further Down

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 162 Words | Posted 12/10/2008 | Comments
Two leading Madison Avenue forecasters further downgrade U.S. advertising forecasts for 2009, though there is some disagreement on the degree of expected erosion.

Mary Evans Reps Robert Hunt

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 66 Words | Posted 12/9/2008 | Comments

Dreamstime Expands to Russia

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 47 Words | Posted 12/9/2008 | Comments

About Michael Masterson

Michael Masterson has a broad range of experience in marketing, business development, strategic planning, contact negotiations and recruiting in the photography, graphic design and publishing industries. In addition to his long experience at the Workbook and Workbookstock, Masterson owned and was creative director of his own graphic design firm for several years.

Masterson has been a speaker or panelist at industry events such as Seybold, PhotoPlus Expo, Visual Connections and the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) national conference. He is currently the national president of the American Society of Picture Professionals (ASPP). He also serves on the board of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council in his Los Angeles community. He chaired the marketing committee for the Los Angeles Conservancy, a historic preservation advocacy group, for many years.

He currently heads Masterson Consulting, working on projects ranging from business development for creative companies and sourcing talent for them to promoting and marketing industry events as well as providing resume and professional profile services for job-seekers. He can be reached at zvpunryqznfgrefba@tznvy.pbz.