Not only are photographers and agents upset about Getty Images recent move to lower the price for Web use of virtually all of its images to $49, but many in the investment community look at it as a bad idea as well.
"Open Your Eyes" is Image Source's new global marketing campaign that unites a microsite, direct mail, advertising, sales promotion and 200 image distributors. Focusing on alternative ways of seeing Image Source's collection of lifestyle, beauty and business imagery, the campaign offers a 30% discount off the price of two or more image collections.
Few corporate moves have met with as much criticism and outright opposition as Getty Images' recent announcement of price changes for online image licensing. Now, six industry groups - which represent over 12,000 professional photographers in the U.S.A. and the U.K., including many Getty Images' contributors - have written an open letter demanding change.
When photographers sell exclusive images for greeting card use, they get less and the buyer gets more.
Corbis has launched Creative Boutique, a new online service for advertising, marketing and media pros. The resource will showcase new imagery and provide an assortment of free content, including search tips, wallpapers and articles.
The drive by photographers and distributors to license RM stock images for exclusive use could be the undoing of many photographers.
As promised, Getty is heavily promoting its new $49 price for Web use of any RM, RR or RF image in its collection. But some suppliers are rebelling.
The New York Times has announced the expansion of its deal with Redux Pictures, which licenses the newspaper's images. Redux has been the official U.S. photo-licensing agent since the summer of 2006 and will now also handle sales in Asia and Europe.
The Stock Artists Alliance has released a report addressing the image-licensing industry's key challenge, Infringements of Stock Images and Lost Revenues. The report addresses issues including image piracy, misuse of legally licensed images via repurposing or redistribution and the difficulty of copyright enforcement.
Several Getty Image announcements seem timed to one of the biggest photo events of the year: the Visa pour l'Image Festival, taking place this week in Perpignan, France. In addition to formally announcing its lowered Web-use license pricing, Getty has rebranded two of its services and selected the winners of its 2007 editorial-photography grants.
Corbis executives have repeatedly stressed that the company's goal is to ease the lives of overstressed, overworked ad-agency creatives. Now, Corbis' new "I Am Buried" integrated marketing campaign puts that promise into action.
Many professional photographers claim no one could make a living selling images for $1.00 to $2.00, but there are always exceptions. At 28, Yuri Arcus is the world's top selling microstock photographer and has a good chance of reaching his aspiration of earning $1 million from stock photography before he is 30.
Digital Railroad has launched the beta version of Research NetworkTM that enables picture buyers to submit research requests, free of charge, to more than 1,300 photographers and 65 agencies in 62 countries. Buyers may submit requests online in real time using their own descriptive phrases, or contact the research staff of Digitalrailroad.net MarketplaceTM.
Vegas Pro 8, the nonlinear audio and video-editing package by Sony Creative Software, now includes in-application access to Though Equity Motion's footage library. According to Thought Equity CEO Kevin Schaff, this integration of motion content into an editing application is a first. The exclusive application plug-in is designed to streamline the acquisition of stock footage.