News Analysis
ArtToday.com and its Photos.com subscription service was recently acquired by Jupitermedia. Photos.com has 70,000 images online, and has been more than doubling revenue every six months. Alan Meckler, Jupitermedia's Chairman, expects Photos.com to generate more than 50% of the ArtToday division revenue in 8 to 15 months. Photos.com is seeking RF content from photographers and agencies.
This group of stories includes: Corbis Sues Amazon; new Masterfile promotion; changes in RM Pricing, Search Result Methodology and Photographer's Choice at Getty; General Motors Launces PhotoStore; Digital Workflow at Corbis; Clement Mok Offers New Subscription RF Pricing Strategy; Book Sale Statistics; On-Request Images and more.
Rumors have been floating around the industry that Solus Images has been sold, but Ari Kopelman, President of Solus, says they are ''categorically incorrect.'' Solus is still owned by Kopelman, Ira Shapiro and the investment bankers. For more about Solus see this story.
This article is a reprint of a Washington Post Sunday Magazine story that explores the issue of, ''Why has Bill Gates stashed millions of the greatest images of the 20th century under a mountain in Pennsylvania?'' Writer Mary Battiata visited the site.
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal followers of Corbis believe a public offering may be in the planning stages. VP Jennifer Hurshell said ''We haven't ruled out categorically diversifying ownership, but we have no plans at this time.''
Getty reported second quarter 2003 revenue of $127.7 million, down slightly from the $130.3 million in first quarter 2003. Net income was $0.23 per diluted share. There was a significant shift in RF/RM sales mix in the direction of Royalty Free. The company expects revenue in the range of $505 million to $515 million for all of 2003.
The NFL intends to close its publishing office and its still photo library, NFL Photos, by the end of the 2003 football season. Both Getty and Corbis have expressed some interest in taking over the operation, and other options are being considered. All the images are owned by the hundreds of photographer that NFL Photos represents.
The Japanese company, Amana, that markets the Photonica brand in the West has launched a new brand called Iconica. Iconica images, while contemporary, are much more illustrative and subject based than the typical conceptual Photonica image. They are more focused toward classic concepts and explore metaphors and ideas. Iconica also has a new model for handling exclusive licenses.
Think RF prices are too low? Some photographers who shoot RF for Getty brands are finding that sales reports show single image licenses of over $1,000 and others in the $850 and $650 range. How's that possible? Nobody has list prices for single images that are that high!! Find the answer in this story.
This story lists leading stock agencies and divides them into three categories -- those that I believe have annual gross revenue in excess of $20 million; those with revenues between $5 million and $20 million and those with revenues between $1 million and $5 million.
ImageState has appointed Michele Vitucci as its Chief Operating Officer. Vitucci was formerly Managing Director of Getty Germany and Getty Europe. ImageState also announced that the Company is still losing money and that further cost reductions coupled with revenue growth are required to achieve breakeven.
This issue contains stories on: A21 to Acquire Superstock, RF Metamorphosis, Zefa Moves to London, Marketing Images in Japan, Image State Revenue Down, Stock Boston Strategy, CEPIC 2003 Congress, Rex and Olycom Partner, New Release from Hemera, Getty Assignment Program, Corbis Royalty Payments, Print and Prepress Trends, Color Management and Keywording and Broccoli.
This issue has stories on: Photobuyer Survey, Print and Prepress Demand, Color Management, New Release from Hemera, Getty Acquires Celebrity Brands, Corbis Royalty Payments and UK Press Complaints Commission Found Wanting By Consumer.
The CEPIC International Congress in Europe is a ''must attend'' event for anyone interested in marketing stock photography but the venue this year in Lisbon, Portugal left a lot to be desired, and was not up to the standards of previous years. Conducting business was more of a challenge than at previous Congresses, partially due to increased attendence (Over 530 people from 338 companies).
The RF industry is facing some interesting challenges. It needs to increase single image prices, but that could lead to reduced volume and greater ''hassle'' for customers. It has a problem with unauthorized uses and the Subscription and Library models that sell images for greatly reduced prices are presenting a threat.
This issue has stories on: Zefa's Move to London, Gentieu Appeals Decision Favoring Getty, Getty's Assignment Program, Rex Features & Olycom Partner, Model Release, Leslie Hughes Joins Elisar and more on Keywording.
Image State has reported turnover of approximately $4.7 million for the six months ended 31 December 2002. This was down 17% from $5.7 million for the period from 1 July 2001 to 31 December 2001. 36% of revenue was from the U.S.; 18% was from Royalty Free.
Japan is a $200 million market for stock photography, but only a small portion of that goes to non-Japanese photographers. Getty is making a major effort to get a larger share or this market, but they face some difficult hurddles.
Randy Taylor owner of Stock Media offers an indepth outline of the factors to consider when keywording images for online search. He points out that keywording is critical because, ''If researchers can't find it, they can't buy it.''
This issue has stories on: Stock Boston Suspending Custom In-House Research, Educational Publishing Statistics, RF Trends, Digital Workflow Strategies, and Seminar for Agencies in London.
On April 24, 2003 a21, Inc. announced that it had signed a Letter of Intent to acquire SuperStock. Earlier in the month the company had also announced a Letter of Intent to acquire Nonstock.
Federal Court in Chicago dismissed a motion for summary judgment in the Penny Gentieu case against TSI and Getty Images. Gentieu charged that the actions of TSI violated her copyright, that TSI breached its fiduciary duty, and breached her agency agreement. After reviewing the evidence, the court granted TSI's motion to dismiss the case in its entirety.
This issue contains stories on: Getty Images Q1 Report, Greenberg Wins, Digimark Finds Infringers for Workbookstock, New Marketing Trends Emerge, Is RF In Your Future?, Subjects In Demand, and Klaus Tiedge's Journey Into RF.
Getty Images, Inc. reported first quarter 2003 revenue of $130.3 million up from $117.7 million in fourth quarter 2002 and a 14.5 percent increase over revenue of $113.9 million in first quarter 2002. Over $4 million of the revenue rise was attributed to foreign currency translation as the dollar has weakened considerably from the first quarter of 2002.
Instead of trying to do it all, many sellers of stock images are beginning to focus their efforts toward either Marketing and Distribution OR Content Creation and Aggregation. This article explores that trend.