Archives: March, 2006
News
Adobe signs deal with Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain Incorporated has announced a new partnership with Adobe Systems Incorporated to help Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Bridge users protect and access their digital images. Adobe Digital Imaging and Creative Suite software users can now access a subscription service to automatically and easily back up their library of digital images, and provides instant access to images whenever and wherever they need them. “We’re committed to continually bringing the best products and services available to photographers from within the Photoshop user experience," said Deb Whitman, vice president of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe. “We’re happy to work with companies like Iron Mountain who help ensure that photographers can protect their digital images for the future.” Iron Mountain was started more than 50 years ago, when a depleted iron ore mine in upstate New York was converted to a secure underground records storage center designed to protect corporate vital records in the event of a nuclear holocaust. Click here to view the original press release.
News
Dreamstime launches updated website
Dreamstime.com, one of the leading micro-payment stock photography websites, has launched a new version of its previous website. The updated site features a new design and improved features to support designers and photographers. A great emphasis was also placed on the search functionality called DreamFinder, a multi-tiered, in depth search tool allowing users to search by keywords, content, photographer, model release, resolution, photos/illustrations, color/monochrome, orientation, and more. Dreamstime has also announced plans to extend buying options with different prices according to resolution, as well as a best-deal subscription opportunity and two more types of licenses ready to be included in agency’s overall offer, marking its entrance on the Rights Managed Market. Click here for more details from http://www.dreamstime.com
News
Jupiter launches flash content subscription site FlashFoundry.com
Shortly after acquiring Bigshot Media, one of the largest collections of royalty-Free flash footage in the world, Jupiter Images has launched a new Flash content subscription service. The service called FlashFoundry.com offers a stable of more than 100,000 unique Flash components, video, buttons, animations and templates for web designers and PowerPoint users who would like to add Flash content to their web sites and presentations. Much like its other subscription sites Jupiter has stated plans of uploading new content on a weekly basis by recruiting new Flash content contributors from its FlashKit community website with over 500,000 members. Subscription options range from 1-week for $9.95 to 1-year at $99.95. "This service leverages two powerful assets of ours: the robust FlashKit community and the team that produces the Web's leading subscription-based royalty-free content sites" stated Alan Meckler, Chairman and CEO of Jupitermedia Corporation. Click here to view the original press release.
News
Stock Photographers: Learn from a Pro!
The Stock Asylum has launched a new bi-weekly column that should be of interest for stock photographers looking to hone their approach to the craft. Veteran stock photographer John Terence Turner will write the column, titled “JTT on Stock.” Each column will discuss the creation of an individual image, offering valuable insights into the photographic process as it pertains to stock photography. Click here for his first essay. Click here to check out John Terence Turner's website.
News
BigStockPhoto reports strong growth after first year of business
The micro stock photography company BigStockPhoto has experienced strong growth since launching in the fall of 2004. BigStockPhoto's image collection is now exceeding more than 270,000 images with an average of with 10,000 new photos and 40,000 users added weekly. BigStockPhoto and other micro payment sites have become the beneficiary of advancements in consumer and prosumer digital cameras that allow amateur photographers to create new images that can be uploaded for sale on BigStockPhoto and its competitors sites (istockphoto, Stockxpert, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, CanStockPhoto, and Fotolia). “Besides the major growth and feature improvements that have made BigStockPhoto a recognized player in the industry, sales revenues have improved near 10% per week many times lately,” said BigStockPhoto co-founder and CEO, Tim Donahue. Click here to view the original press release.
Features
PACA and ASMP leading the charge on Orphan Works
Nancy Wolff, Counsel to the Executive Committee of the Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) and Victor Perlman, General Counsel to the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP,) have recently joined forces with other concerned parties to ensure that pending amendments to current legislation concerning “Orphan Works” (i.e., illustrations, photographs, paintings, etc. of unknown authorship) adequately protect photographers, illustrators and other artists, while also permitting proper use of works that truly have no attribution. The US Copyright Office has examined the issue and come up with recommended changes to Orphan Works legislation that Wolff and Perlman agree, as currently worded, place the authors of those works on weak legal footing. Congress will, ultimately consider enacting into law the recommended language from the Copyright Office. The attorneys from PACA, ASMP and other interested groups hope to convince Congress to change the language to strengthen the rights and remedies of the creators of Orphan Works. They address three essential issues covered by the proposed legislation:
News
JaincoTech opens in Japan
JaincoTech, a leading outsourcing and technology services provider to the stock photo industry, has established a presence in Japan, signing a joint venture agreement with Mr. Takashi Yoshida of PLANS, Ltd. JaincoTech Founder & CEO, Mr. Avinash Jain, says he is " delighted to have Mr. Takashi Yoshida, president of PLANS, Ltd. on board, thus helping JaincoTech in its global growth. Mr. Takashi Yoshida's professional experience in the photo industry and strong presence in Japan will allow JaincoTech to offer services to Japanese stock photo companies, photographers, museums and other archives companies". JaincoTech is a preferred supplier to many world renowned stock photo companies including Alamy, Corbis and Getty Images and various world leaders of other photo imaging businesses. JaincoTech offers a world class infrastructure with highly skilled technicians in Mumbai, India utilizing high speed internet access to serve customers throughout Japan and the world.
News
FLPA managing Holt Studios photo collection
FLPA is taking over the day to day running of Holt Studio’s Photographic Collection which will be blended into the offering available on FPLA's website. Holt Studio was Founded by Nigel Cattlin 24 years ago, and offers a specialist collection of worldwide agriculture, pests, diseases, horticulture and gardening. Jean Hosking, Managing Director of FLPA says "The Holt Studio collection dovetails perfectly into our existing nature agency and will add tremendously to the coverage we can offer our clients via our website". Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
News
Alwaysstock launches image editing service
The stock agency alwaysstock has launched a new image editing service called "Tweak". This new service allows designers to request a custom tailored version of any of the stock images offered by alwaystock. Customers who are interested in the service must first submit a request to alwaysstock's staff of professional graphic designers who will decide if the request is a “Tweak” or a “Major Tweak”. A "Tweak" costs $60 and might include changing a color, removing an element from a photo, creating a basic silhouette, and more. A "Major Tweak" costs $150 and may involve more detailed work such as adding an element, revamping a piece of clothing, altering a background, creating a complex silhouette, or combining elements from two alwaysstock photos. "We found customers saying, 'I love this photo but it needs to have a blurred background,' or 'I need this summer scene to look like autumn,' so the opportunity really presented itself to offer this next level of service," says Stephen van Schouwen, partner, alwaysstock. Most editing jobs can be completed in one working day. While the "Tweak" is in progress, customers can download and utilize the unedited photo as a placeholder. Click here for more details.
News
Glasshouse Images signs exclusive deal with Jupiter Images
New York City based Glasshouse Images has announced a deal granting Jupiter Images the right to distribute its entire image collection on a worldwide exclusive basis. Glasshouse Images is a young boutique photo agency offering a tightly edited collection of rights managed imagery. According to Spencer Jones, President of Glasshouse, “We are very excited about this new agreement. This partnership will facilitate our distribution into other markets and increase our exposure. We feel that Jupiter respects the collection that we have built and will continue to support our endeavors.” Click here to access the Glasshouse Images collection from the Jupiter Images website.
News
VNU shareholders and management at odds over $9 billion bid
Reuters has reported that VNU shareholders will likely reject an offer of $9 billion for the company on the grounds that the offer is too low. Shareholders continue to believe the company will have more value if broken into parts to sell off separately. Management have indicated a willingness to consider the offer which includes an agreement not to break up the company for at least eighteen months after the deal closes.
VNU shareholders and management have disagreed before when management tried to merge with IMS Health. That deal ultimately fell through in November 2005. How this plays out has a bearing on the stock photo industry in so far as VNU owns the stock photo web-site service, IPN, and its related stock licensing site, IPNStock, as well as the photography trade magazine “Photo District News” and the trade show business, PhotoPlus Expo. Any of the big three stock photo companies might find these assets tempting. IPN and IPNStock appear to fit nicely with Jupiter’s Internet community-oriented strategy. Jupiter also has trade show experience, though they have recently sold the bulk of this business. Corbis and Getty might find IPN and IPNStock complimentary to their businesses as well.
News
Image Source joins QuarkAlliance program
Image Source, the London based royalty free image producer, has announced that it has joined the global QuarkAlliance program. The QuarkAlliance program allows members to receive special pricing and services from participating vendors. Members will now be able to access stock photography directly from Image Source and even access new content up to one month before it is released through other channels. Image Source joins StockByte as to become one of the first two stock photography companies currently participating in the QuarkAlliance program. “We are very excited about our new partnership with Quark,” said Duncan Grossart, CEO of Image Source. “It allows us to offer Image Source’s exceptional collection through the QuarkAlliance program, providing value for its customers, as well as easier access to Image Source’s market-leading royalty-free photography.” Click here to view the original press release.
News
Wireimage expands creative content offering
Continuing on the path started in Sept 2005, Wireimage has announced the addition of several new commercial stock photography collections, including InsideOutPix, InspireStock, AsiaPix and IndiaImages. With the addition of these new collections Wireimage now offers more than 20 creative brands. "We have been working to make distinctive content available through WireImage's Creative division. We are now entering an expansion phase that concentrates on specialty collections, such as general lifestyle and business images”, says Holger Laufenberg, Vice President of WireImage Creative.
News
Alaska Stock contributing to Adobe Stock Photos via IPN
The specialty agency Alaska Stock has announced a deal with IPN to contribute its royalty-free brand “Alaskan Express” to Adobe Stock Photos. Jeff Schultz, the owner of Alaska Stock Images had this to say about the new deal with IPN. “IPN has proven to be an energetic and progressive portal. We believe that they provide a great opportunity to expand into new markets and be seen by new clients.” During 2005, Alaska Stock’s Royalty Free brand Alaskan Express has grown as a uniquely Alaska collection whose images not only include the classic Alaskan elements such as Alaska landscapes and wildlife, but also more of the universally commercial themes of lifestyles, adventure sports, and family.
News
FIFA and WAN resolve World Cup dispute
The International Football (Soccer) Federation (FIFA,) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) have resolved their differences (previously reported here) regarding the photographer coverage of the World Cup Soccer Championship this summer. FIFA has agreed not to impose the restrictions on the timing of image distribution or limits on the number of images from each match. Representatives from the two organizations had failed to agree on the matter and reached the point of hiring a mediator to help resolve the dispute. In the end, Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president and Timothy Balding, CEO of the WAN met privately and reached an agreement acceptable to all parties. Balding represented the interests of several press agencies including Agence France Press, Associated Press, Reuters and Getty Images. Click here to see WAN’s recent open letter to FIFA expressing their position on the matter. Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
News
Corbis acquires architecture specialty library Beateworks
Corbis has announced the acquisition of the architecture specialty library Beateworks. Beateworks was started by Beate Chelette and includes the Royalty Free brand InsideOutPix and the Beateworks@Home collection featuring celebrities in their home environment. According to Corbis the images from Beateworks complement their existing image offerings and the collections are further complemented by Corbis' industry leading rights clearance services, which enable clients to clear celebrity rights quickly and easily. "Based on trend research and market data, we understand the demand for images of home interiors and living well," said Steve Davis, president and CEO of Corbis. "Whether it's a photo of model Naomi Campbell preparing Jamaican food on her patio, or actress Julianne Moore with her children in her New York apartment, the Beateworks collections are full of rich home images." Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Click here to view the original press release.
News
German-Images.de shuns “Cutting Edge” photography
"A common complaint among picture buyers is that the large picture agencies are offering fewer and fewer normal usable pictures. Instead they are offering trendy, smooth, over-stylized material, which is more of a marketing tool for the picture agencies than that it is useful for the customer ", says Ton Mascini. With this in mind Armin Puschmann and Ton Mascini created the on-line stock photo agency German-Images.de. The two former Zefa executives - Puschmann was EDV-leader in Duesseldorf and Mascini led the business of zefa in the Netherlands – are following the Credo: no Cutting Edge, "We are creating usable material with a German emphasis. We want to serve a market that the big agencies have ignored." German-Images.de offers royalty-free images of cities, country and people, industry, traffic, economics, and society. Click here to check out the German-Images.de site. Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
News
Jupiter acquires Crank City Music
In a move foreshadowed last week in the Jupiter Media’s Q4 conference call. Jupiter Images has announced the acquisition of royalty-free music producer Crank City Music. The obvious appeal for Jupiter is Crank City Music’s wholly-owned music library of over 1,300 royalty-free music tracks giving Jupiter even more content to license without the obligation of royalty payments. Crank City Music provides royalty free CD collections in a variety of themes and styles for a wide range of product applications, and MP3 downloads with a simple preview/purchase/download e-commerce process located at www.crankcity.com. Produced by professional studio musicians, the high quality tracks feature creative arrangements with contemporary themes that utilize the latest in audio technology. "We are pleased to purchase over 1,300 royalty free music tracks and the associated Web site. In combination with our recent acquisition of BBM.net in December 2005, Jupiter Media is now one of the largest owners of digitized royalty-free music for promotional and Web use in the world," stated Alan M. Meckler, Chairman and CEO of Jupiter Media Corporation. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Click here to view the original press release.
Features
Jupiter reports on Q4 2005
On Thursday, March 9th, Jupiter Media released its financial results for the quarter and full year ended on December 31, 2005. The following day, CEO Alan Meckler, COO Christopher Cardell and CFO Christopher Baudouin hosted a conference call to review the results with analysts. The financial results reveal a company in transition as one would expect, given the many acquisitions and a key divestiture Jupiter made during 2005. The company reported a 101% increase in total revenue from 2004 to $124.6MM in 2005, marked by a shift in proportional sources of revenue reflecting their concentration on the Online Images business which grew by 257%. Despite this shift, revenue from Jupiter’s other main segments also grew at respectable rates from 2004 to 2005; Online Media by 10% and Research by 16%.
News
CartoonStock launches historical illustration collection
CartoonStock has opened CSL Vintage, a collection of historical cartoons and illustrations. The designs, mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries, come from English and American artists such as Thomas Nast, Sir John Tenniel, James Gillray and George Cruikshank. Thematically, the collection covers most important political and social events of the times, such as the American Civil War, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. In addition, the collection offers literary illustrations from, among others, the works of the Brothers Grimm, Lewis Caroll, Defoe and Dickens. Click here to learn more at http://www.cartoonstock.com. Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
Features
Corbis reports on 2005 financial performance
Corbis held its 3rd Annual Meeting in New York City on March 14th to discuss the company’s performance over the last year and its goals for 2006. The company reported revenue for the year totaled $228MM representing an increase of 34% over 2004. Discounting the effect on revenue of the acquisition of zefa visual media, however, revenue grew organically by only 4% over 2004. Management also reports that, due to the zefa acquisition, the company did not achieve profitability (as they had projected at last year’s annual meeting) and that their profitability goal would be delayed. Nonetheless, Bill Gates confirmed his continued support of the company stating, “I’m very committed to Corbis.”
News
Rumor and humor (never a dull moment in the stock photo industry)
Jim Pickerell has published a story to his subscribers regarding rumors that Stockbyte will soon announce that it has been sold for a price of at least US$200MM. The buyer is not known, but Pickerell speculates about whether it's Getty, Corbis or Jupiter. The report elicited the following humorous reply from Stockbyte's plain-speaking CEO, Jerry Kennelly:
News
A21/Superstock taps industry veterans to help guide company
A21/Superstock has hired several high-level employees recently with direct experience in the stock photo industry in an effort to round out its management team with seasoned players.
Stock industry veteran Ellen Boughn has joined A21 SuperStock as its VP, Content Strategy and Product Manager of Rights-Managed Content. Ms. Boughn, who founded AfterImage in 1976 and later sold that company to Tony Stone in 1992, most recently served as VP at Uppercut Images, the RM division of PunchStock. She has worked for other major stock photo companies, including Corbis, and served as an industry consultant. Ms. Boughn’s responsibilities will include recruiting new photographers and producing new imagery for both the RF and RM collections at Superstock.
News
New York Times issues correction for unflattering photo
The New York Times has issued a formal correction over a controversial photo of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner that ran on the cover of the New York Times Magazine on Sunday March 12th 2006. The correction stated “The cover photograph in The Times Magazine on Sunday rendered colors incorrectly for the jacket, shirt and tie worn by Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor who is a possible candidate for the presidency. The jacket was charcoal, not maroon; the shirt was light blue, not pink; the tie was dark blue with stripes, not maroon.”
News
Health On The Net Foundation awards quality seal to medicalpicture
The German medical stock photo agency medicalpicture is the first picture agency in Europe to be awarded a quality seal by the "Health On The Net Foundation" (HON) for the content of their homepage. All information at http://www.medicalpicture.de meets the strict criteria of the Swiss foundation for reliable medical and health-related informatio. "With the HON quality seal, the reliability and dependability of the information on our website is independently confirmed," explains Thomas Schmidt, medicalpicture GmbH Managing Director. “This makes it easier for the user to evaluate and assess the information on the website”. Click here to view the original press release.
Features
More on Orphan Works
On March 14, 2006, the illustrators trade association, Illustrators Partnership of America (IPA,) submitted an eloquent assessment of the Orphan Works issue to the House Judiciary Subcommittee responsible for recommending revisions to Orphan Works legislation. As we have reported here, the new language under consideration severely compromises artists copyrights in works whose origin may become difficult to determine. Two artists, Brad Holland and Cynthia Turner, composed this text on behalf of IPA which provides a clear and detailed evaluation of the matter. In addition, IPA’s web-site has more articles about Orphan Works.
News
Fotolia partners with Slide to offer desktop slideshows
The microstock site Fotolia has teamed up with Slide Inc. to allow users to download a free desktop program that displays slideshows of images from the Fotolia site. Potential buyers can select to display images that match specific tags, topics or photographers. In addition photographers are able to display their own images in Slide show form on their own professional or personal websites. Clicking on any Slide show will link to the Fotolia site where the viewer can purchase the desired picture. "Our partnership with Slide gives designers and buyers another tool to facilitate their search for stock photography. By including Fotolia as part of a personalized "slide", it allows people to look out for the images they need without taking hours out of their day to search," commented Oleg Tscheltzoff, Co-Founder and President of Fotolia. Click here for more details from Fotolia’s Blog.
News
Jupiter brings subscription service to Japan
Jupiter Images has launched Photostock.jp, a Japanese language version of its Photos.com image subscription service. According to CEO Alan Meckler, this move exemplifies how Jupiter approaches the market in Japan differently from its competition. Currently, Jupiter’s presence in Japan takes the form of a partnership, started in 1999, with the Japanese software and gaming site company, AERIA. In addition, Jupiter already offers another Japanese language subscription service in the country, clipart.jp, the Japanese counterpart to Clipart.com, and has managed the Japanese news and information web-site, www.japan.internet.com since the mid-90’s. Jupiter plans to build a creative image team in Japan, but not to set up a full-scale stock image business the way Getty and Corbis have done. “Japan can be a black hole for business,” says Meckler. Nonetheless, he added that Jupiter will soon make more announcements about their growing offerings in the Japanese market. These new initiatives will be consistent with Jupiter’s strategy to build and work with Internet-based photo communities, another approach that separates Jupiter from its stock photo industry rivals. As for the rest of Asia, Jupiter has stated plans to continue working with representative agencies in the Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and China. Click here to view the original press release.
News
Tax guide for stock photographers
Rohn Engh over at PhotoSource International has released a 78 page tax guide for Stock Photographers written by Julian Block a tax expert for freelancers. According to Mr Block, freelancers, especially stock photographers, can easily save money on their taxes. The special guide outlines potential deductions including useful information, inside tips, helpful hints and examples from real tax cases. Block explains taxes and deductions in a way that makes them easy to understand. Even if you do not plan on doing your own taxes the guide may be useful for your tax professional. Few tax professionals have the kind of specialized knowledge (intellectual properties) that tax guides like this one gives the stock photographer. The cost for this guide is just $24.99 for the electronic version. Click here for more details.
Features
Royalty free stock photo subscription buyers guide
As a service to our readers, we have compiled a comparison-shopping list of Royalty-Free subscription services available on-line. We hope you find the comparison useful in assessing these subscription offers. As with just about anything, numbers can deceive. We include, therefore, the following observations to help clarify the information compiled about each of these products:
News
Shake-up among Japanese camera makers
Konica-Minolta has decided to exit the camera manufacturing business. The collaboration between two of Japan’s once formidable photography equipment manufacturers has come to an end in the face of stiff competition in the Single Lens Reflex (SLR) digital camera arena from other well-known brands such as Pentax, Nikon and Canon.
Since July, 2005, Konica-Minolta has produced the cameras in partnership with the Sony Corporation. Konica-Minolta will sell part of the business operations to Sony, who will continue on its own, but only to manufacture lenses for the Konica-Minolta lens mounts. The company that owns the Konica brand, Konishiroku, will continue to make Konica copiers and other business and medical imaging machines.
News
Rock with Rex
London based Rex Features has released the first in a new series of rock photography books. ‘Rex Collections: The Who’ is a photographic tribute to one of the most important bands in British popular music history. The book spans the entire career of the legendary British rock band from their early pub performances in 1964 to their Live Aid appearance last year. One can find images of their major concerts and festivals plus heretofore unpublished material of their life on the road. Stefan Hartmann, VISUELL
For more information visit www.rexfeatures.com.
News
Jupiter Media sells Jupiter Research for $10.1MM
Jupiter Media, in its continuing strategy to focus on its digital assets businesses, has divested itself of Jupiter Research. Kagan Research LLC, a 35 year old company founded in the 1970s specializing in media business research purchased the Jupiter division, which Jupiter bought in 2002, and simultaneously formed JupiterKagan, Inc. "This merger brings together two brilliant teams of analysts with unparalleled expertise in their fields," said Tim Baskerville, CEO of JupiterKagan, Inc. "With greater scale, richer combined data resources, and a highly attractive continuous information service business model, JupiterKagan is positioned to be a major force in our industry."
News
DIOMEDIA unveils new website
London based DIOMEDIA has recently unveiled a new website to better serve its customers. The new design is simple and clean closely resembling the new jupiterimages.com site. In addition to the cosmetic makeover DIOMEDIA has enhanced its search capability and other technical aspects of the site. Edwin Redzepagic of DIOMEDIA says, "DIOMEDIA boasts one of the largest collections of premium RF brands. We employ latest search engine technology to ensure our search is one of the fastest around. The website also features an Advanced IMAGE ZOOM technology, allowing visitors to inspect all details of an images – online, before committing to e-commerce purchase, followed by the instant download" Click here to view the new site.
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