Transitioning from Getty . . .
Stock Asylum Staff Report
January 25, 2006
"JupiterImages did not spend $63 Million for PictureArts to let the company fall through the floor," asserted Jeffrey Burke.
The JupiterImages vice president was responding to the concerns of a number of PictureArts photographers who are worried that they will lose income now that Getty Images has removed PictureArts' stock photography from the Getty web site.
"There will be a small bump in the road when the Getty revenue is shut off. But, the bottom is not going to fall out of PictureArts' revenue," Burke added."
He said his company is moving to improve PictureArts sales and has already received a significant number of calls from customers who had been buying PictureArts imagery from the Getty web site.
The week since Getty Images removed three PictureArts brands from distribution on the Getty web site has clearly been an eventful one for the JupiterImages leadership.
While tending to concerns of photographers, the company also has been contacting image buyers to let them know where PictureArts' collections are available and to assure them that JupiterImages will honor royalty-free agreements made with Getty Images.
"As a result of Getty Images' decision to remove these collections we understand that customers who purchased Brand X Pictures CDs may no longer be able to access these images in their Getty Images account," said PictureArts in an e-mail to more than 100,000 JupiterImages' and PictureArts' clients.
"We are pleased to inform you that we will honor all Brand X Pictures CDs previously purchased from Getty Images and will make the images available to you immediately upon request and proof of purchase," the e-mail added.
Burke noted that buyers can no longer download previously purchased "virtual CDs" from the Getty web site, "because, contractually, they (Getty Images) are not allowed to have anything from PictureArts up on their site."
Burke and his wife, Lorraine Triolo, sold PictureArts to JupiterImages last summer. Since then, Burke has served as vice president of product strategy for JupiterImages.
Until
the sale, Getty Images was a major subdistributor for Botanica,
FoodPix and Brand X Images, all libraries owned by PictureArts.
Following the PictureArts acquisition, Getty cancelled its contract with PictureArts, saying it did not want to support a major competitor. All PictureArts images were removed from the Getty web site January 20.
Burke said the JupiterImages switchboard lit up this week with image buyers trying to track down PictureArts imagery.
"Our people were saying that they couldn't keep up with the call volume," Burke said. "People were cheering in the office. It was a pretty amazing day."
He estimated call volume on January 23, the first business day after the images were removed from the Getty site, was two to three times normal levels.
"On that one day we probably had more people switch from Getty to Jupiter than on any other," Burke asserted.
Burke advised PictureArts photographers to, "Take a deep breath and sit through the next year. We've been very upfront about what we are doing. There is no reason to panic."
"The bottom is not going to fall out of the PictureArts revenue," Burke concluded.
JupiterImages can be found at: http://www.jupiterimages.com
PictureArts is at: http://www.picturearts.com
Getty Images is at: http://www.gettyimages.com
