SAA claiming Imagestate dissolution leaves contributors unpaid
As reported previously on AboutTheImage, Imagestate had faltered in 2006 and the brand name and assets were purchased by one of its founders Sheldon Marshall as the CEO of Heritage Image Partners Ltd. After the acquisition Marshall merged the two businesses (Heritage Partners & Imagestate) under the name ‘Imagestate Media’ and according to a press release from October 12th 2007 the old Imagestate PLC, a company under the control of the receivers will cease to exist on January 12th 2008. Following this news the Stock Artist Alliance (SAA) issued a press release claiming that “With just a few months until operations shut down, the situation has become critical for many contributors” who according to the SAA have long overdue royalties from licenses made by Imagestate.
Through a survey of it members the SAA the organization has determined that collectively the group has more than 10,000 images in Imagestate's collections and has appointed SAA ombudsman Les Sumner to serve as an advocate for the group. According to the press release Sumner has “repeatedly tried, without success, to contact Imagestate representatives and determine why contributors have received no payments, no statements, no returned images and no communication from the company”. In addition the SAA is claiming that bankruptcy administrator Kroll has also not returned messages.
In addition to losing out on payments many contributors are now worried original images will not be returned, Sumner reports. "We have gone through a long list of contacts trying to get work returned as Imagestate seems to have a revolving door employment situation," he says. "It's been impossible to get answers or action on any of these issues, and there's been no communication from them at all to explain to photographers what's going on."
The press release further adds “While the license revenues from contributor images continue to be collected, it's been reported by Selling Stock that none of this money will ever reach contributing photographers who are classified as "unsecured creditors." Any money received will be paid to the Bank of Scotland, which is owed approximately £3.6 million, and final payment will fall far short of this debt”.
Web: www.stockartistsalliance.org - www.imagestate.com
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Related Stories:
Imagestate Media secures £2 million investment (October 30, 2007)
Sheldon Marshall Returns to Imagestate (May 19, 2006)
Imagestate claims business as usual (April 17, 2006)
Imagestate suspends trading pending “clarification of the company’s financial position.” (April 11, 2006)
Management changes at Imagestate (July 21, 2005)
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