Stock Industry Briefs . . .

Stock Asylum Staff Reports
Summer, 2005

Getty Drops PictureArts Brands . . .

Jupitermedia has announced that Getty Images will not sub-distribute images from the various PictureArts collections after Dec. 16. The announcement was no surprise. Getty recently terminated other agreements with Jupitermedia-owned stock photography brands.

Jeffrey Burke recently said that JupiterImages wanted to continue the agreement, but understood that Getty might end it. Burke is the former owner of PictureArts and current vice president of product strategy at the JupiterImages division of Jupitermedia.

"They (Getty) are extremely competitive to the point that they make a concerted effort to try to extinguish their competitors," Burke asserted.

For full story Click Here.

Adobe Stock Photos Add Four Brands . . .

Adobe Stock Photo has added four JupiterImages royalty-free brands to its online collection, bringing the total Adobe offering to more than 355,000 images.

The two companies announced that stock photography from Creatas Images, Goodshoot, IT Stock Free and Thinkstock are now included in the Adobe offering, which is accessible directly from the Adobe Bridge, an asset management program that comes with the latest versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, GoLive and Adobe Creative Suite 2.

At the same time, Adobe said its new stock service will now let users search individual image collections. The company said it will continue to improve the service based on consumer feedback.

For full story Click Here.

Shareholders Approve Adobe, Macromedia Merger . . .

Stockholders of Adobe Systems and Macromedia, Inc., have approved a proposed $3.4 billion merger, moving the two companies a step closer to creating a truly dominant player in the area of communications and graphics software.

The vote at both companies was overwhelmingly in favor of the merger with 99 percent of the Adobe votes going for the merger and 99.8 percent of Macromedia votes in favor. Seventy-five pecent of outstanding Adobe shares were represented in the vote count while 73.2 percent of outstanding Macromedia shares were represented in that company's tally.

The two firms hope to conclude the merger during the fall, but the proposed union still must clear regulatory hurdles in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Antitrust laws could come into play, especially in areas where the two companies compete head-to-head with similar products.

For full story Click Here.

JupiterImages Announces New Service . . .

Six months ago Alan Meckler promised that his company would defend its position as the top supplier of subscription stock photography. Now, just days after Getty Images unveiled its own subscription service, Meckler's words are proving to be more than just corporate posturing.

JupiterImages has announced what is very likely the world's largest subscription photography offering with over 330,000 images from the company's Comstock, Brand X, Creatas, Goodshoot, Thinkstock, IT Stock Free, Photos.com, Ablestock and PhotoObjects collections.

All of the images are wholly owned by JupiterImages and all are available in multiple resolutions from 1 megabyte to 75 Megabytes. The company has worked on this offering for about six months, according to Edward Grossman, JupiterImages' vice president of e-commerce and marketing.

For full story Click Here.

Alamy Releases Figures . . .

In just one year, the percentage of Alamy revenue from editorial clients has jumped nine percent thanks to the company's efforts to make further inroads into this market, especially in the United States and United Kingdom.

A report released this week by the British stock photography distributor shows that 69 percent of Alamy's revenues came from editorial clients during the first half of this year, compared to 60 percent during the first six months of 2004.

The figures offer some other intriguing insights into the sales activities of the privately held stock photo company that appears to be growing steadily without the acquisition fever and competitive posturing seen elsewhere in the industry.

However, the report is nothing like the detailed financial statements legally required from publicly owned stock agencies like Getty Images and a21 (Superstock). As such, Alamy's overall revenue picture remains a mystery. Theoretically, the higher percentage of revenue from editorial sales could come from a drop in commercial ones, though no evidence suggests that this is the case.

For full story Click Here.

Getty Starts Subscription Service . . .

As promised last month, Getty Images has launched a new subscription stock photography product that will compete directly with similar offerings from JupiterImages and others.

The new services, accessible from the Getty "Royalty-Free Zone," will let designers, advertisers, web developers and other stock photography users download up to 50 images a day for a single monthly or annual fee.

Subscribers may use the images for almost any purpose during the subscription period. No new uses are permitted afterwards, though continued use of materials created during the subscription period is allowed, the company said.

For full story Click Here.

Mira's Annual Report . . .

John Greim says he will get everything done, including an overdue annual accounting of the Creative Eye finances.

But, troubles with the transition to a new, more powerful web site for Mira, Creative Eye's stock photography brand, make it difficult to accomplish everything quickly, Greim asserted.

As such, the Creative Eye executive director said, the annual report may have to wait until the end of September or even a little longer, depending on developments with the new web site, which has already taken countless hours of Greim's time. (Click here for more about the new web site.)

For full story Click Here.

PicScout and Getty Extend Deal . . .

Infringers beware!

Getty Images has found PicScout's services so valuable that the stock photography supplier is extending its agreement with the Israeli company that seeks out illegal uses of rights-managed images.

PicScout, of Herzeliya, Israel, said it now searches for infringements of Getty visual product in over 2,000 magazines as well as on thousands of commercial internet web sites. The company also said a new, "long-term" deal makes PicScout the exclusive visual search provider for finding infringements for Getty Images.

PicScout uses sophisticated computer programs to locate illegally-used images. A PicScout executive said about 85 percent of all images found are being used without permission or payment.

Getty Acquisitions Investigated . . .

Getty Images spokesperson Deb Trevino called an investigation into two of the company's recent stock agency acquisitions "a routine inquiry under merger control legislation in the UK"

She added that the British Office of Fair Tradings (OFT) is "seeking to understand our markets and how we operate. They have not indicated any concerns."

In April of this year, Getty bought Digital Vision, a London-based supplier of royalty-free imagery, for $165 million. Getty purchased Photonica West, a supplier of high-end rights managed photography, in May for $51 million. Among other things, OFT investigates mergers to make sure they are not anti-competitive.

For full story Click Here.

UpperCut Goes Live . . .

Following more than a year of development, a new rights-managed stock photography distributor has published its web site with more than 12,000 new images.

UpperCut Images, the latest offering from stock industry veteran Miles Gerstein, is being positioned as a high-end commercial brand with an artistic flair.

With work from photographers like Sean Kennedy Santos, David Maisel, Dennis Welsh, Darryl Estrine and others, UpperCut offers a general collection with all the usual categories from business to lifestyle, travel to still life.

The new web site is in a "soft-launch" phase, said Benjamin Winters, creative developer for the new stock agency. Companies often preview ( or soft-launch ) web sites with little fanfare, giving the technical people time to work out kinks before the official unveiling. Winters said the official launch will occur in September amidst a barrage of advertising.

For full story Click Here.

Getty Expands in China . . .

Jupitermedia will sell two divisions in a move that strengthens the company's commitment to its growing stock photography operation.

The company announced that it will receive $43 million in cash from Incisive Media, of London, for the sale of Search Engine Strategies trade shows and the ClickZ.com Network of Web sites.

"As Jupitermedia increasingly focuses its efforts on its commercial images operations, we have looked for ways to redeploy assets to more rapidly grow our JupiterImages division," stated Alan M. Meckler, chairman and CEO of Jupitermedia Corporation.

"This sale is evidence of our intent to be even more aggressive in the licensing and distribution of commercial images," Meckler said in a prepared statement.

For full story Click Here.

Aurora Launches Outdoor Collection . . .

A new collection of outdoor sports and adventure photography should help fill an obvious void in rights-managed stock.

Aurora, a stock provider from Portland, Maine, said its new outdoor library launches with an initial collection of 3,000 images from photographers like Paolo Marchesi, Joel Sheagren, Gregg Adams, Jeff Singer and Tony Demin.

The collection will blend outdoor lifestyle and concept images with hard core adventure photos, according to Peter Dennen, the associate director in charge of the library. Dennen, himself an outdoor photographer, said the new library will bring together some of the best work of some 90 outdoor shooters.

For full story Click Here.

ASMP Probes Mira . . .

It was the last thing John Greim needed.

As the executive director of Mira grappled with the launch of a new web site, another distraction was clearly not welcome.

But, another distraction was exactly what Greim got when Eugene Mopsik, executive director of the American Society of Media Photographers, sent an e-mail to ASMP members asking if anyone has any gripes about Mira, a stock photography distributor operated by the Creative Eye artists' cooperative.

Citing complaints from unnamed sources, Mopsik specifically asked if Mira provides all the financial information photographers desire, if sales are reported in a timely manner, if royalty payments are made in full and in a timely manner, and if Mira responds to requests for information in a timely manner.

Mopsik suggested that Creative Eye "may be in violation of their operating agreements and/or governing documents."

Upon hearing of the communication, Greim sighed and quietly responded, "I think it is kind of a low blow."

Greim admitted that there are problems. He said he has been honest and open about Mira's troubles and claimed the difficulties should be resolved by the end of the summer.

For full story Click Here.

Corbis Expands Royalty-Free Offer . . .

Corbis announced several moves to beef up its royalty-free stock photography offer, including the launch of rfShop, a new web site within the larger Corbis domain.

The new web offering consolidates the entire Corbis royalty-free collection and the collections of several partner suppliers in one place. It includes 200,000 images and offers a three-click checkout, the company said.

In related moves, Corbis said it has signed JupiterImages as an additional royalty-free partner and has acquired image100, a royalty-free production business based in London.

For full story Click Here.

Jupitermedia Buys PictureArts . . .

Yet another distributor of quality stock photography has been absorbed by a bigger competitor.

Jupitermedia announced that it has entered into a "definitive agreement" to purchase PictureArts Corporation for $63.2 million from owners Jeffrey Burke and Lorraine Triolo, a husband and wife team that started the company in 1984.

PictureArts operates the Brand X, FoodPix, Botanica and Nonstock brands. According to Jupitermedia, Burke will continue to run the PictureArts brands and will become senior vice president of product strategy for JupiterImages, Jupitermedia's stock photo division. Triolo will continue as PictureArts creative director.

In a little over a year, Jupitermedia has amassed an impressive array of stock photography brands, including Comstock, Creatas, PictureQuest, Thinkstock, Goodshoot, AbleStock and Liquidlibrary.

For full story Click Here.

PicScout Will Monitor Magazines . . .

A company that helps stock agencies monitor the internet for misused stock photographs has announced it will also start checking magazine ads.

PicScout, of Herzeliya, Israel, said it has forged an agreement with Inquiry Management Systems of Toronto, Canada, giving PicScout easy access to large numbers of print ads using stock photography and other types of images.

Martin Hochstein, president of the Canadian company, said his firm digitally searches some 3,000 magazines to determine where, when and how often various ads are run.

Since the service captures over 150,000 images each month and has a database of over 5 million images, "This application is a perfect fit with PicScout's service and will contribute to the protection of copyrights of all PicScout clients," said Hochstein.

For full story Click Here.

Mira Unveils New Web Site . . .

A new web site unveiled by Mira is just the tip of an iceberg that could put the rights-managed stock supplier on firmer financial footing.

Creative Eye Chairman John Greim said the new site -- which is part of a deal with a company named ImageSpan -- should reduce costs, improve customer service and create more image sales for photographers.

In addition, Greim asserted, “I think this will attract more photographers to Mira because we are now up there with the big guys in terms of our web package.”

The deal also makes ImageSpan a subdistributor of Mira content under an approach that is uniquely favorable to photographers, Greim said.

For full story Click Here.

StockPhotoFinder Provides "Widget" for Mac Users . . .

A stock portal with content from many image suppliers, has created a “widget” that lets users with the latest Macintosh operating system search for images directly from the Mac desktop, bypassing their web browsers.

Randy Taylor of StockPhotoFinder said the utility relies on new Macintosh “dashboard” technology. He said his company’s “widget” will let browsers conveniently search the StockPhotoFinder collection and download preview images. Images, both rights-managed and royalty-free, can then be licensed directly from the proper distributor.

StockPhotoFinder is making the utility available for free at: http://www.stockphotofinder.com/stock-photos-widget.html

Albers Joins Superstock Board . . .

A. D. (Bud) Albers, who played a key role in integrating more than 30 stock company acquisitions into the Getty Images web site, has joined the a21 board of directors. A21 operates the Superstock stock photography brand.

A21 said Albers will help Superstock create a new generation of image delivery technology.

Albers is senior vice president and chief technology officer for MusicNet, a business to business music service provider. He has worked at Drugstore.com and was chief technology officer for Getty during his tenure there.

Superstock’s web site is at: http://www.superstock.com.