An offering is being circulated in the finacial community to sell Comstock. VCG is the most likely buyer and the deal is expected to be closed soon. Comstock photographers who are not equity owners will probably be out in the cold.
EyeWire starts offering ''Rights Protected'' contracts with an ''Artist Choice'' provision that pays photographers 70% of the gross fee collected. Our story provides a detailed analysis of the various provisions in this 15 page contract.
Several short items including: Moffly Leaves FPG, Corbis Acquires Sygma, ASMP's stock catalog, TSI's move to merge collections, and more.
National Geographic Society has been found guilt of two counts of copyright infringement from underwater photographers Jerry and Idaz Greenberg in a landmark case in Miami. The precedent may aid other photographers. Damages are still to be set.
Four short items: Will MCI's cutback on annual report photography become a trend?, One Photographer's Success Story, the NY Times Promotes Stealing Photos, and art directors cut fingers on TSI's Tin Can.
This is a continuation of the battle between ASMP and PACA over what what rights photographers and agencies should expect from one another, and what responsibilities they should have to the other.
We take a look at some of the online photo forums and how they can benefit photographers. Particular emphasis is given to the new Editorial Photo Forum.
ASMP is negotiating with TIME Inc. for a rise in the editorial day rate, but some photographers are not that happy with some of the positions ASMP is taking. If ASMP's proposals become an ''industry wide'' standard, the rates some publications are paying might go down.
Getty Images acquired Art.com a leading provider of framed and unframed art sold to the consumer market. Total acquisition cost could be $202 million.
This series of short articles gives details on a new photo forum for editorial photographers; Corbis; EyeWire; the retail book market and ''sharing the risk'' with publishers.
PACA outlines their position after an unsatisfactory meeting with ASMP to try to imporve the overall relationships between the two organizations.
With this file you can print out the entire May 1999 issue of SELLING STOCK which includes: the results of the photographer survey, Direct Sales Online, Methods to protect your rights by Robert Cavallo, Other Legal Updates, new develpment at Getty and TSI, and more.
The theme of one of the seminars at the recent PACA annual meeting in New York was ''The Web in Ten Years.'' Roger Ressmeyer moderated the panel and this story presents his opening remarks.
There is an increasing trend for some stock agencies to produce print catalogs designed as ''Image Builders'' rather than to sell specific images. We examine the implications of this type of marketing for the photographers who participate and suggest steps photographers can take.
TSI's price schedules for brochures, postcards and external newsletters show low rates for larger than 1/4 page uses and may be indicative of pricing trends as some agencies try to compete with Royalty Free.
Getty Images reports overall sales of $52.2 million for the first quarter. This was up slightly from $50.1 million in the 4th quarter of 1998. The e-commerce portion is also growing.
This article includes: Tasini Update, London Times Justifies Stealing, People on the Move, Getting an image chosen for a Stock Agency Ad can be a Bummer, New TSI Developments and the Size of the Creative Market.
Lawyer Robert Cavallo outlines a number of contractual issues that photographers and agents should consider when licensing work in the electronic environment.
Arriba Vista has developed a technique for indexing individual images on the web that could be a breakthrough for photographers trying to get their images seen. There are also risks. The technology is still in its infantcy, but it may have a dramatic long term effect on agency/photographer relationships.
The results of the 1999 Profits Survey circulated in January are now complete. This gives the most comprehensive information on stock photographer income and expenses ever published.
Ray Kurzweil gave a thought provoking presentations on the future of computing, and what it means for society, at the 1999 Spring Seybold Publishing Conference in Boston. Take a few minutes to look beyond next week or next year and plan for your future. Kurzweil is also the author of the ''The Age of Spiritual Machines.''
The items include: TSI's New Catalog Format, Getty's Move to Seattle, Todtri Update, RF at TSM, Update on ASMP/PACA Joint Statement, legal action in the UK on Elvis Trademark and new moves at Index's Photos To Go.
The ASMP board has established a new policy that will make it much more difficult for chapters to plan and hold stock information meetings. They have also supplied statistics on MPCA sales.
Photographers need to start giving a lot more attention to model releases and what they cover. This story discusses this issue and gives a sample release.
Gary Elsner, former Sales and Marketing VP at FPG International and currently an independent consultant on stock photo issues, shares his thoughts on ASMP's new approach to photographer education.