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NEW STOCK AGENCY
August 27, 1998
Definitive Stock, a new Seattle based stock agency, has announced it will
officially launch service on September 15, 1998 and will supply both RF
(royalty free) and RP (rights protected) images. Their web site is already
in operation at www.definitivestock.com.
They expect to publish a catalog of a selection of their royalty free images
later this fall and another catalog of their rights protected images in the
spring of 1999.
They claim to have a library of about 25,000 RF images (about 10,000
currently on-line) and 50,000 limited use images.
The web site includes the complete RF or unlimited use collection and about 5,000
images from the rights protected collection. Their rates for usage for the
RF images are $19.95 for a 1MB file, $79.95 for an 18MB file and $129.95 for
a 45MB file.
Definitive will also be supplying CD-ROM collections with 100 images on each
disc. Topics include Corporate Communications, Industry and Production,
Business and Occupations, People and Lifestyles, Characters and Expressions,
and Transportation and Shipping.
The core of the Definitive Stock collection comes from an acquisition of
Borland Stock founded by Charlie Borland. Other photographers with
significant content are Bryan Peterson, Ken Anderson, Philip Coblenz, Sean
Sullivan and they currently have images from about 50 photographers.
The founders, Michael Carpenter and Dave Roberts have previous experience
working with Apple, Claris and Aldus Corporation and are experienced in
understanding and providing services to the graphic design field.
According to Michael Carpenter, CEO, "Many stock agencies are operated by
professional photographers and favor the needs of the supplier-photographer
over those of the customer-designer. Our focus will be toward the customer."
Carpenter also said that currently they are in an acquisition strategy and
will be growing both sides of the business. They employ 16 staffers and that
number is growing as well.
Ellen Boughn founder of After Image in 1976 in Los Angeles, and recently with
Corbis as Director of Content is the new VP/Managing Director and in charge
of acquisitions of all the rights protected images. She will also oversee
the development or their international distribution.
One of Boughn's jobs at Corbis, and an important part of her job at
Definitive will be to help define which images should be licensed as royalty
free and which as rights protected in order to maximize income for both the
photographer and the agency.
"In determining whether a specific image should be marketed in one way or
the other there are many issues to be considered including: legal
constraints, photographer philosophy, image content, style of the image, the
subject of the image and the state of the market at the moment," Boughn
said.
Boughn's goal is to keep the number of photographers they represent small so
each can have a significant position in the collection.
The percentages offered to photographers are the standard 50/50 for RP sales
and 20% to the photographer for RF sales. Boughn did indicate that in the
future they may have to look at adjusting the percentages for on-line Rights
Protected sales to 40% as TSI is now proposing to their photographers.