News Analysis
Getty Images has announced that they will begin returning to TIB, FPG and Stone photographers. Approximately 5.5 million originals inventoried in Dallas will be returned to TIB photogs soon. FPG images should be returned in the 2nd quarter. Plans for Stone will be announced in a week.
Mark Getty Snaps at Analysts, Invoicing Problems at FPG, Sales Reps Needed, Getty Struggles With Branding, David Moffly of FPG Is Back, Graphic Design Trends, Writers Start Agency, Steedman and Lloyd Take A Long Cruise, and more.
Mark Getty should be pleased with the international capital markets, but he is angry with the investment banks that he feels fuelled the technology boom to unsustainable levels and precipitated its collapse. See his comments to the London Sunday Telegraph.
This issue has stories on Protecting Model's Rights, New Contract Challenges for Getty, Alaska Stock Considers Lowering Royalty, E-Commerce Pricing Structure, Starting Your Own Agency, Stock Industry in Europe and more.
Alaska Stock has asked their photographers to consider a change in the royalty percentage from 50% to 40%. In exchange the photographers would not be charged catalog and dupe fees in the future. Jeff Schultz, owner of Alaska Stock, explains why this is necessary.
Stock photographers disheartened by recent changes in their relationships with their agency may find that now is an excellent time to join with a few other like minded photographers and start their own agency.
Several short items at the end of 2000: Random House ups writers royalties from 15% to 50% for books published on-line. Getty and Corbis are still trying to get things right with their photographers, Time Magazine still can't afford to pay much to photographers even though investors have done extremely well, and more.
News items include Sarah Stone hired by Workbook, Getty Promotes Corbis, Stone catalog prices comparisons, PhotoDisc Price Increases, CEPIC 2001 Conference, Pricing Uses for House Organs and PPA Settles Copyright Suit with KMart.
This story provides a suggested strategy for pricing e-commmerce uses in the U.S. The same strategy with different numbers can be used in other parts of the world.
In Europe publications refer to paper sizes as A1, A2, A3, etc. These refer to standard dimension in milimeters or centimeters. A chart coverts these paper sizes to inches.
Michael Trumbull found 26 images on the Net to illustrate his book ''The Best of Dot Com Humor.'' He is having trouble locating the copyright holders. Can you help? This story also points out some weaknesses in our current system of licensing rights to photographs found as a result of previous publication.
Klaus Plaumann of Picture Press in Germany provides an updated analysis of the stock photo business in Europe. This presentation was given at the International Conference of stock agencies in New York in November.
News assignments are down. Charles Borst, Executive News Director of Corbis Sygma discusses the causes and explains why he gave a recent TIME assignment to the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale rather than to a Sygma photographer.
Getty Images acquired all the outstanding shares of Cass & Cass Limited (TIB-UK) in September for $6.3 million in cash and 247,790 shares worth $10.4 million for a total of $17.1 million. Balance sheet figures analyzed.
Automatic selling on-line can put model's rights at risk, and present legal problems for photographers even when they have a model release. This story outlines the problem, discusses FPG and Getty's recent approach and offers an alternative solution.
The Supreme Court has agreed to review the Tasini copyright infringement case and render a verdict before June 30, 2001. The Court's decision will have a major impact on creator rights in the digital age.
This issue has stories on Getty's Slow Growth in the 3rd Quarter, Death of SuperStock Express Pricing, Index Stock Closes Offices, On-line agency updates, updates on Getty and Corbis activities, things to look for when considering on-line options, and more.
Getty Images, Inc. reported 3rd quarter 2000 revenue of $127 million, up from $123.6 million for the 2nd quarter, or a 2.75% increase for the quarter. In his conference call to investors CEO Jonathan Klein provided some revealing insights to future plans.
At the PACA International Conference in New York Colin Burke of Stock Photos agency in Australia provided insights to the south-west Pacific market for stock photography, and challenged stock agents in attendance to consider their photographer's interests.
This story provides information about the closing of Index Stock Imagery offices and staff reductions, Global State's acquisition of WestStock, the departure of TSM's German office manager for Zefa Visual Media and new policies on Sensitive issues at FPG.
Less than one month after Exactphoto.com announced a new on-line service for photographers Ridgley Evers, CEO of Exactly! said the entire company would be closing its doors. This eliminates the accounting software and the buying services Exactly formerly provided as well as the stock photo services.
Getty Images is moving to close down and consolidate brands. In September they announced the closing of Planet Earth Pictures and the photography section of the Artville brand. PictureArts Corporation is moving to handle sales and marketing of the titles formerly handled by Artville.
Getty Images is developing a new marketing strategy called ''Special Collections''. The images will be marketed through the TIB portal and special print catalogs. It is believed the initial collections will include: nature, wildlife, scenics, travel and sports. Getty is acquiring work and offering photographers new contracts, but are unwilling to talk publically about this strategy at this time.
The Spanish agency AGE Fotostock has been operating a New York office for about eight months. They have distributed two print catalogs and have a searchable web site. They advertise a number of FREE services to customers including: Free scans, Free delivery by courier or messenger, Free research and Free chromes (which the customers get to keep).
There has been a sudden explosion of on-line options for photographers. At least nine companies will be at Photo+Expo in New York offering new or updated service. This story outlines some of the issues, in addition to percentage and cost, that photographers should get answers to from these service providers.