Corbis has announced the winners of its second Creativity for Social Justice Award & Scholarship. As part of the Annual ADC Awards, this prize honors work created by professionals and students for nonprofits on a pro-bono basis.
The Stock Artists Alliance, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting the interests of professional stock photographers, is urging Congress to amend the proposed Orphan Works Act of 2008. Though SAA recognizes the improvements made since the 2006 version of the legislation, it feels the new bill must do a better job of balancing the needs of users with those of copyright holders.
Aflo Co., Ltd., one of Japan's leading stock-image providers, is absorbing the operations of its younger Tokyo neighbor am-images, now dissolved as a separate business entity. The two companies report an amicable merger without disclosing financial details.
Getty Images has reported revenue of $233.2 million for Q1 2008, up from $218.1 in Q4 2007 and up significantly from the $220 Q1 estimate supplied at the end of January. Revenue increased 9.7% compared to $212.7 million in Q1 2007 and came mainly from increasing licenses of editorial and micropayment imagery.
On May 7 and 8, London's Business Design Centre will host the annual Picture Buyers' Fair, organized by the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies. Among new products and collections on view will be the first digitized Barnardo's imagery from TopFoto.
According to the latest Corbis trend report, Americans are increasingly choosing recreational-vehicle getaways over the typical flight-and-hotel vacation. That reality, says Corbis, will soon be reflected in ad imagery.
SAA's Corbis Ombudsman Tim McGuire outlines important difficulties in enforcing copyright in the U.S. SAA's volunteer ombudsmen liaison with most major agencies to assist with communications and problem-solving.
Houston-based Inmagine has announced an upmarket addition to its microstock property, 123rf.com. EVO is a new image label that will market the work of top 123rf contributors at midstock prices.
Unless pricing and distribution outlets change, it will be very difficult for an individual photographer living in the United States to earn his entire living from producing stock photography.
House Resolution 5889 and Senate Bill 2913 are two different versions of the proposed orphan-works legislation currently before the U.S. Congress. Though substantially different from its original form and endorsed by some respected industry organizations, the proposals are meeting with opposition only days after becoming public.
Several Corbis photographers complain that they've had two and three new editors in the last year. Dan Perlet, director of communications at corbis, says this happened as "a result of natural attrition and staff reductions Corbis had last year." He also pointed out that, unfortunately, similar reductions have been "happening in many parts of the industry as companies seek ways to be more competitive."
Last week's Overseas Press Club of America awards placed Getty Images' achievements as a news organization on par with those of The New York Times. Former foreign correspondent, current United Nations representative for CARE International and OPC board member Kathleen Hunt singled out the two companies for their dedication to quality international journalism.
There is general agreement that the industry's No. 1 problem is oversupply, but what can be done about it? It appears the three majors are in the process of cutting supply by editing tighter and taking less from both individual photographers and small, specialized production companies. New production companies find it next to impossible to get accepted by the three major distributors that combined represent close to 70% of commercial sales industry wide. Without selling through at least one of them, it is next to impossible to generate enough sales from other distributors to support a production operation.
TheDataArchive, a London-based information-technology company, has relaunched the Web site of its wholly owned stock-licensing subsidiary, Construction Photography. In addition to a new look, the site utilizes the latest version of the company's digital asset-management technology.
Corbis has launched a set of new tools that target interactive-ad creatives. Among these is a pricing plan that allows high-end royalty-free images from dozens of producers to be licensed for $15 to $95. While price reductions for online image uses have been sweeping the industry over several months, this is the first public announcement of a cost as low as $15 from a major player.
Nature Picture Library (NPL) has acquired Bluegreen Pictures, a library specializing in sailing, boating, marine wildlife and landscapes photographs. Bluegreen was established by Karren May on the Isle of Wight and represents some of the top names in yachting photography.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company (HMH) is asking image providers to agree to an addendum to current and new agreements that limits HMH's liability in the event more copies of a book are sold, or more online uses are made, than were initially authorized. It is expected that other publishers will follow suit.
Tom Wear, director of photography and editorial services at Digital Railroad, has released a list of "most wanted" images, identified by repeated requests from Digital Railroad Marketplace buyers.