Jupiter Video on Google . . .

Stock Asylum Staff Report
April 26, 2006 (Corrected April 27 to include information about Getty Images)


JupiterImages has become the second large stock photography distributor to include stock footage in Google's new video distribution program.

Jupiter has placed almost 8,000 clips from the Creatas, Animation Factory, Thinkstock and Footage brands on a beta version of Google Video. Google will apparently sell the clips eventually, though it appears buyers now must purchase directly through one of the web sites operated by JupiterImages.

A spokesman for Getty Images pointed out that Getty's Archive Films collection has been in the Google database since it went live on the internet in early January. Just over 1,500 of Getty's historic and retro clips are available on Google. The Getty material can be found by searching with the the keywords "Archive Films" but not "Getty Images."

At this point, the Google site appears to be an odd collection of television and music footage for home viewing, free clips from amateurs, and stock footage like the material provided by Jupiter and some smaller distributors. The Google Video web site says only a few suppliers are currently being allowed to charge for video downloads. All suppliers will eventually be able to collect fees, the web site says.

"We, like many organizations, have made a deal with Google in which they are distributing some of our offerings for a percentage of the sales," said Jupitermedia Chairman and CEO Alan Meckler. "We have only (just recently) been included so it is too early to give you an idea about how well we are doing."

Noting that JupiterImages has much wholly-owned visual materials, Meckler said the company, "will increasingly place these on Google and other sites that wish to get into the distribution business."

Getty spokesperson Jay Porter said, "The Archive Films collection has been very well received and the Getty Images selection available on Google will be greatly enlarged in the weeks to come with many more clips than originally planned for the second phase of the project."

Casual viewers will apparently need to use a special Google Video Player to see much of the footage from Google Video. Noting that many of the videos are"copy-protected," Google says that, once a video is purchased, buyers can "download it to other computers up to several times."

"Copy-protected videos are encrypted files," Google says on the web site. "To decrypt these files and allow you to view the video content, the Google Video Player needs to communicate with Google over an active internet connection."

Users of Apple Macintosh computers cannot view copy-protected videos at this time, according to Google. Jupitermedia owns JupiterImages.

 

The Google Video site is at: http://www.video.google.com

JupiterImages is at: http://www.jupiterimages.com