The Stock Asylum, a stock photography news and information site covering the Stock Photography Industry has announced that it is closing its doors on April 6th. Ron Rovtar the founder and primary author of the site broke the news today stating “After much soul-searching (and more than a few sleepless nights) I have decided it is time to tackle new endeavors that will make it impossible to devote the required amount of effort to a website like The Stock Asylum”. Rather than simply shut down the site Rovtar has arranged to donate its archives of valuable stock industry reporting, analysis and resources to the Stock Artists Alliance (SAA).

Continue reading "The Stock Asylum closes and donates archives to Stock Artists Alliance" »

Posted by Brent Phelps at March 31, 2008 | Comments (0)

Having wrestled with a PR nightmare over its handling of back commissions owed to photographers of Index Stock imagery, the agency it acquired late in 2006, photolibrary has gotten back to the business of licensing images.  In a February 1st letter from CEO Glenn Parker to contributors with the heading “Update for Index Stock Artists,” the company addresses marketing plans for the coming year, which will entail eliminating the use of the Index Stock web-site and concentrating on efforts to strengthen the photolibrary brand. The letter also offers an explanation of where the accounting matter stands vis-à-vis pre-acquisition commissions owed.

Continue reading "Photolibrary back to business after Index Stock commission woes" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at February 04, 2008 | Comments (0)

In a complete and concisely worded release, photolibrary answered its critics over its handling of back commissions owed to Index Stock photographers for periods previous to photolibrary’s acquisition of Index in October of 2006.  To this writer, the explanations given by Tim Moore, photolibrary’s CEO, demonstrate the company has acted in good faith and continues to do so.  Those still inclined to suspect photolibrary of being less than forthright with the Index contributors would do well to consider the following:

Continue reading "Editorial: photolibrary deserves better" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at December 18, 2007 | Comments (1)

The photography community mourns the loss of Jane Kinne, who passed away early Saturday morning. Mrs. Kinne spent over fifty years as a photo agent, consultant to photographers and agencies, and an expert on copyright and other legal issues concerning images and image reproduction.  Along the way, she brought her boundless and positive energy to bear on the creation and management of several photo industry trade associations.  Most importantly, as a good friend and mentor, she gently but firmly coaxed from those of us lucky enough to know and work with her, an eagerness to bring our own positive energy to the business at hand.

Continue reading "Obituary: Jane Kinne, friend" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at November 04, 2007 | Comments (3)

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.

Continue reading "SAA claiming Imagestate dissolution leaves contributors unpaid" »

Posted by Brent Phelps at October 31, 2007 | Comments (0)

After learning of Getty Images' new across-the-board web-use fee of $49 for a 500KB file from any Getty collection, several photographer trade organizations have sent a joint letter to Getty CEO Jonathan Klein a letter of protest suggesting the company consider retracting the move, especially where it concerns rights-managed and rights-ready images.  The full text of the press-release follows:

Continue reading "News Brief:  photographer associations protest Getty’s $49 web-use fee" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at September 11, 2007 | Comments (2)

The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) a not-for-profit photographer advocacy organization, has released a comprehensive study of the issue of unauthorized or infringing use of stock images on the world-wide web.  The study, which SAA performed in partnership with the usage tracking technology company, PicScout, examines and analyzes the results of tracking 20,000 rights managed images from Getty Images and Corbis for four months in 2005.  The results show a startling rate of unauthorized use, both by inadvertent additional use to legally licensed rights and by simple theft of intellectual property.

Continue reading "SAA releases comprehensive infringement study" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at September 07, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Stock Artist Alliance and American Society of Media Photographers have been selected among eight partnerships awarded for preserving digital media by the U.S. Library of Congress. The partnerships are each awarded to address different aspects of preservation, to help ensure the survival of digital media. The SAA has been recognized previously for the publication of its "Metadata Manifesto" in 2006 and the award be used to develop online resources and professional seminars to promote the importance of metadata for the long-term usability of digital photographs. The ASMP will use its award to expand and promote the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines, with recommendations for refined production workflows, archiving methods and best practices based on image use and capture methods.

Continue reading "SAA and ASMP receive Preserving Creative America initiative award from Library of Congress" »

Posted by Brent Phelps at August 08, 2007 | Comments (1)

The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA) has released a rights managed price calculator and made it available to download from their web-site free of charge.  The software streamlines the RM pricing system called PLUS Packs™ developed by the Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS.)  The software, PLUS Packs™ Calculator is an open source tool SAA created to promote the adoption of the PLUS pricing standards by more licensors and licensees of RM stock imagery.

Continue reading "SAA release free RM price calculator" »

Posted by Chris Ferrone at June 25, 2007 | Comments (0)

The Stock Artist Alliance (SAA) a five year old trade organization for Stock Photographers has announced that it has recently voted to accept any professional photographer who is involved or interested in stock photography as a member. Previously the organization only accepted members who were in the business of licensing rights-managed (RM) images. The new change implies that photographers who offer images with royalty-free (RF) or micropayment models will be accepted as members. However, the SAA stated in a press release that it will continue to “advocate that the best business models for photographers are ones that manage usage and protect their intellectual property”.

Continue reading "Stock Artists Alliance opens arms to all professional photographers" »

Posted by Brent Phelps at December 22, 2006 | Comments (0)