News Analysis
Alamy has provided extensive data about their operations and reports that they have more then 5 million images from over 300 agencies and over 5,000 individual photographers. They are adding new images at a rate of over 200,000 per month. In 2005 Alamy added 1,555,439 new RM images and 690,295 new RF images to their site. A complete breakdown is provided in this story.
This issue has stories on: ImageState Looking For Buyer: Office of Fair Trading Clears Getty's Acquisition of Digital Vision and Photonica; Workbookstock and Jupiterimages - Will They or Won't They?; Where's Jupiterimages Headed; and Searching on Google.
Recently Pat Hunt interviewed James West to learn a little more about the many behind Alamy. West is one of the new breed of young creative CEOs who can spot a great business model and run with it. Since 1999, he and Alamy have been breaking rules in the imaging industry and building momentum fast.
At the recent PACA annual meeting in Chicago Lewis Blackwell from Getty, Mark Berns from Jupiterimages and Gary Shenk from Corbis took time from their busy schedules to give their take on the "State of the Industry, State of the Art". The full text of their remarks is included in this article.
At the PACA meeting in Chicago, Jeff Burke, outgoing President of PACA, gave a very balanced and thought provoking presentation on "Current Trends in the Photo Industry, Where is the Stock Industry Headed?" and announced his retirement from the industry. This story is the full text of his 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 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.
The higher your image is in the results delivered after a customer has completed a search the better the chance it has of being seen and selected for use. This story examines what's happening on the Getty site with regard to search results and offers some suggestions as to how to maximize your position in the search returns.
Jupitermedia has reported revenues for Q4 2005 of $36.1 million. Operating income for the Q4 2005 was $9.0 million compared to operating income of $4.9 million for the same period last year. Net income for Q4 2005 was $5.4 million, or $0.15 per diluted share.
A bill is being "fast tracked" through the U.S. Congress that would remove much of the protection for unauthorized use of images and potentially convert the majority of published images to "Orphan Works" status. All trade organizations are encouraging their members to express their feelings on this issue to their representatives.
Most photographers and artists organizations are very concerned about the proposed "Orphan Works" remedy to the Copyright law that is working its way through Congress. They are calling their members to urgent action. The following are some of the press releases from these organizations explaining the issue.
This issue contains articles on: Margins or Profits?;iStockphoto Updates Site; Getty Moves to Micropayments; Getty Revenue Up For 2005; Photographer's Choice Survey Results; Jupiter Makes More Acquisitions; Increased Still Image Use; Grill on Return-per-image; Royalties Plunging; Trademark Bill Pending; Acquisitions and more.
This issue has stories on: Corbis Announces 2005 Revenue; Index Stock Hit By Check Scam; New TrendWatch Statistics; WireImageStock Expands Content; AP Photographers To Shoot Stock; Photononstop Leading Independent Agency in France; New Positions For Experienced Professionals.
This edition includes items on: Picturesque Does Semi-Shutdown; Jupiter Acquires The Beauty Archive; Jupiter Pulls Brands Off Getty; Getty Images Changes Tune On iStockphoto; Royalties Plunging and Why Getty's Stock Price Has Fallen
Which is more important, Margins or Profits? I consulted a group of analysts who follow Getty Images and/or Jupitermedia and all but one who responded said PROFITS. Both companies are very focused on increasing margins, but here's why I think they may need to accept a slight decrease in margins in order to grow revenues and profits.
This group of releases includes: ASMP Asks for Legislative Action on HR 683; OnAsia Images Announces Distribution Partnership with laif in Germany; Beateworks Announces IPN as Adobe Bridge Portal; OnAsia Digital's Keyword Database Sets Industry Milestone; Digital Railroad Names Ryall VP of Marketing; and ShutterStock Offers Footage.
Tom Grill says when comparing RPI from one
agency to another, photographers must keep in
mind the number of selects along with the type
of material that is being selected. The overall
return from the shoot takes precedence.
This group of releases includes: Jupiterimages Invests in Hungarian stock sites Stock.xchng and Stockxpert.com; Football Association Signs UK's Action Images as Photo Partner; IView and Alamy Reveal Pro-Photo Tool; PunchStock & UpperCut Opens New York City Office; SuperStock Opens New York City Office; and SAA's "Thinking Stock" Event In London.