There is an increasing industry trend for a greater portion of the available stock imagery to be produced by large production operations, rather than individual photographers. This article explores the reasons why.
This article contains short items on: Is Maximizing Return Per Primary Goal?, Asia Works Changes Name, Art4Love And Picture Arts Provide Decor Imagery To Corporate Clients and Changes at Getty Image Partners.
Getty Images has reported that Q4 revenue of $162.1 million, up 20.6%, compared to $134.4 million in the Q4 2003. For all of 2004, revenue grew 19.0 percent to $622.4 million compared to $523.2 million in the prior year. For 2005 they expect revenue of between $705 and $715 million.
The StockArtistsAlliance (SAA) and PicScout have announced the initial results of their study about misuse of SAA members' images. Members provided 13,000 of RM images represented by Getty Images that had never been licensed for web use. The PicScout Image TrackerF System searched commercial sites in North America and Germany and found 11 times more uses than they have found when searching for images from other agencies.
There are indications that Getty is approaching selected photographers and agencies and recommending that they move some of their RM images to RF. Economically this could make a lot of sense not only for Getty, but also for the image providers themselves.
I've been taken to task by one photographer for not making it clear enough in Story 689 that the RF and RM percentage differences that photographers receive are important in determining return-per-image. In some cases photographers are getting 25% or less of the gross fee paid by the customer for an RM sale and well below 10% of the gross fee for an RF sale.
This article contains short items on Editorial Prices At Getty, Corbis Moves Into Rights Representation, Corbis' Zefa Collection Size, A Good Year For Goodshoot and Getty In India.
Corbis has announced that it had gross 2004 revenue of $170.4 million, representing growth of approximately 22% over 2003. Recently acquired zefa visual media group reported approximately $41 million in 2004. CEO Steve Davis estimated 40% growth for the combined companies in 2005.
In this issue of RT there is more on Getty and Photographer's Royalty Rates, an update on the Corbis/Zefa deal, Images On Alamy, Corbis Suit Against Amazon, DV Production For 2005, OnRequest Marketing, Sheldon Marshall's New Venture and SAA/ASMP Seminars.
JupiterImages has announced the launch of RightsProtectedImages.com which will offer customers exclusive rights to any image on the site, regardless of how it is used, for a fixed price or $799 for a three-month term. Longer terms at higher prices are available.
One solution to unauthorized Internet use is to ignore the Internet as a market and simply look at it as a marketing vehicle. Learn what Index Stock Imagery and Bigfotos.com are doing.
Corbis has announced that they have acquired Zefa Visual Media Group and that the combined revenues of the two companies is in excess of $200 million. That should break down to around $43 million for Zefa and $160 million for Corbis in 2004.
ImageState has reported net earning for fiscal 2004 of about 3.7 million pounds or roughly $6,685,573. Sales have declined steadily over the past three years, most notably in the U.S. market, but also in the UK. Agent sales is the one bright spot in their sales picture.
This edition includes: Things to watch for in 2005, Corbis to Acquire Zefa, Getty 2005 Guidance and Analysts Day, A21 3rd Quarter Results, Heilman Acquires Photo Network, Jupitermedia Q3 Results, Jupitermedia Acquires Hemera, Cheaper RF For Editorial, Returns Per Image, Getty Search Results Delivery Analysis and more.
As we move into 2005 there are at least three issues to watch closely for developments -- Subscription Sales; Increased Participation in Photographer's Choice; and the possibility of further reductions in Royalty Percentages.
Beginning in January 2005 we have instituted a price increase for the annual subscription of Selling Stock.
This story analyzes Return Per Image at Getty and compares it with likely returns from Corbis and Alamy. Most photographers will be surprised with the comparative results between RM and RF.
The StockArtistsAlliance (SAA) and PicScout have launched a joint trial using the high technology PicScout Image Tracker Service to investigate Internet use of photographs.
In an in-depth presentation to stock market analysts who follow Getty Images the company revealed many details about its plans for 2005. This story examines some of the information provided and explores the implications of the moves for others in the industry.
This edition of Random Thoughts confirms that Amana/Zefa rumor was FALSE, and it outlines Getty's Financial Guidance to investors for 2005.
This issue has short items on: Amana In Play For Zefa?, How Does Your Income From Getty Compare With The Averages, Stock Agency Costs, Earnings From Reuse Fees and Creatas Adds India Culture And Lifestyle Images.
Image Source in conjunction with Rex Features has developed a new rational for offering RF to Editorial buyers at lower than normal RF prices. They will be offering "one-time" use to RF images rather than "unlimited use" for what editorial users normally pay to license RM images.
This story has items on: Grant Heilman Acquires Photo Network Stock, Nonstock Partners with Photonica, A21 Third Quarter Results, Alamy Adds Providers, and Corbis Third Party Providers
This article examines in detail how search results are being delivered on Gettyimages.com. Both photographers and agencies that have images on the site will want to carefully consider this information and the changes that have recently taken place.
Jupitermedia Corporation has acquired all of Hemera Technologies Inc. for approximately U.S. $7.3 million in cash. Hemera sells RF images on CD and DVD as well as by download over the Internet, individually or through subscription, through its Ablestock.com and ImageExpress.com web sites.