Articles by Author

Getty Acquires Stockbyte For $135 Million

By Jim Pickerell | 599 Words | Posted 4/10/2006 | Comments

Getty Images, Inc. has announced the acquisition of Ireland-based Pixel Images Holdings Limited, the parent company of Stockbyte and Stockdisc for $135 million in cash. Photographers shooting for other Getty brands are concerned.

Copyright Small Claims Court

By Jim Pickerell | 938 Words | Posted 4/3/2006 | Comments

In testimony at the U.S. House of Representatives, Victor S. Perlman, ASMP General Counsel and Managing Director laid out a plan for a Copyright Small Claims Court that would create an inexpensive legal procedure for collecting small copyright claims involving a few thousand dollars or less.

Epiphany

By Jim Pickerell | 1369 Words | Posted 4/3/2006 | Comments

In the past week I've had two unusual moments of revelation and insight into the stock photo business. One has to do with the cost of producing stock and the other iStockphoto.

Press Releases 16

By Jim Pickerell | 1598 Words | Posted 4/3/2006 | Comments

This group of releases includes: NewsCom Launches RSS Service; Science Faction Inks Deal With Peter Ginter; UpperCut Images Names Winters Vice President; Ethno Images Partners With Big Cheese Photos; and Clarkson Chooses Digital Railroad to Power NCAA Archives.

20% Off At Getty

By Jim Pickerell | 1520 Words | Posted 4/1/2006 | Comments

According to sources Getty Images is about to launch a 20% off sale during April and May on any RM and RF images on its site. (No this is not an April Fools joke.) The Sale is expected to be announced in emails to customers early next week.

2006 Stock Income Survey Results

By Jim Pickerell | 2214 Words | Posted 3/27/2006 | Comments

Fifty-five photographers with a gross 2005 income of $8,490,187 responded to our survey. This was up 9.7% from 2004 and 78% of this income was from stock. 30% of the revenue was from Getty and almost 15% from Corbis

Photographers Living And Working In China

By Jim Pickerell | 3363 Words | Posted 3/23/2006 | Comments

While in China I had the opportunity to meet and talk to many photographers and extensive discussion with three - American editorial photographers David Hartung and Fritz Hoffmann living in Shanghai and a Chinese advertising photographer Tang Hui in Beijing. The experiences of these three will give the reader a sense of what it is like for a photographer to live and work in China today.

Stockbyte To Be Acquired

By Jim Pickerell | 538 Words | Posted 3/18/2006 | Comments

Rumors have it that any day Stockbyte should announce its sale for a record multiple for a Royalty Free stock photo company. The betting is that the Getty Images will be the buyer and the price will be at least $200 million. Estimates are that Stockbyte's gross annual revenue is in the range of $50 million.

Press Releases 15

By Jim Pickerell | 2001 Words | Posted 3/18/2006 | Comments

This group of releases includes: Image Source's Founder Interviewed on CNN for International Women's Day; Image Source Joins Quark Alliance Progam; BigStockPhoto.com Grows; Fotolia Teams with Slide Inc.; Neophyte Media Launches Self-Selling Photo Site; Popperfoto Tops 75,000 Images on Alamy; Ellen Boughn Joins Superstock; and Workbook Premieres New Subscription Service.

Corbis Acquires Beateworks

By Jim Pickerell | 258 Words | Posted 3/17/2006 | Comments

Corbis has acquired Beateworks, an image licensing company providing high-end interior images and celebrity home stories to magazine and corporate clients. Also included in the deal is the RF brand InsideOutPix.

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.