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Articles from September 2008

ASPP Names Tavin Picture Pro of the Year

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 166 Words | Posted 9/30/2008 | Comments
The American Society of Picture Professionals has named Jerry Tavin its 2008 Picture Professional of the Year. The award honors a current ASPP member’s significant contributions to photography, a singular outstanding achievement or longtime service to the organization and its members.

Corbis Heralds Low-Tech Living

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 169 Words | Posted 9/30/2008 | Comments
According to the latest Corbis IQ Trend Report, devices invented to set us free are now causing techno-backlash as the over-connected struggle to unplug. Corbis says more and more people are deliberately disconnecting with technology and reconnecting with themselves and their surroundings.

Marketers Seek More Creative Risk

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 74 Words | Posted 9/29/2008 | Comments
Marketers say their creative approach is overly safe.

Senate Passes Orphan Works Bill, Industry Groups Urge Action

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 442 Words | Posted 9/29/2008 | Comments
Immediately following the Saturday announcement of The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act clearing the United States Senate, ASMP and SAA issued alerts urging their members to oppose the bill’s potential adoption by the House of Representatives.

Pro-Imaging Clears 5, Vetoes 2 Contests

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 67 Words | Posted 9/29/2008 | Comments
U.K. group that campaigns against photography competitions with unfavorable creator terms has evaluated contests by Microsoft, Sony and Lonely Planet—with different results.

Will Microstock Eventually Die?

By Jim Pickerell | 600 Words | Posted 9/26/2008 | Comments (3)
Some wishful thinkers believe photographers will eventually stop supplying new images to microstock, when it becomes clear that the vast majority can never earn enough to justify continued effort.

Metadata Working Group Releases First Specs

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 423 Words | Posted 9/26/2008 | Comments
The Metadata Working Group, a young organization that unites Adobe Systems, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony, released its first specification, which provides guidelines that would increase interoperability and preservation of image metadata. The group made the announcement on Thursday at Photokina in Cologne, Germany.

TopFoto Secures Rights to Imperial Iranian Archives

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 86 Words | Posted 9/25/2008 | Comments
London picture agency digitizes imagery of Iran's royalty.

Ad Spending Falls At Steepest Rate Since 2001, Online Display-Ad Growth Disputed

By Joe Mandese | 321 Words | Posted 9/25/2008 | Comments
TNS Media Intelligence uses the phrase "collateral damage" to describe the impact the economy has been having on U.S. ad spending.

Alamy to Open U.S. Office, Raise Company Cut of Sales

By Jim Pickerell | 341 Words | Posted 9/25/2008 | Comments (3)
Alamy has announced that it will open a U.S. sales office in early 2009. The company is aiming to grow its business Stateside, particularly in high-value markets, by 30% to 40% per year by establishing a local presence.

GumGum Reps Newscom

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 60 Words | Posted 9/24/2008 | Comments
Newscom content will now be offered via the pay-per-use and ad-supported content-licensing platform GumGum.

Getty Images and Time Inc. to Launch LIFE.com

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 372 Words | Posted 9/24/2008 | Comments
The legendary print title will be resurrected for the fourth time as LIFE.com, jointly owned and operated by Time Inc. and Getty Images. The Web site is scheduled to launch in 2009 with an ambitious goal: "to provide access to the most comprehensive iconic and professional photography collections available anywhere online."

iStockphoto Opens German Office, Hires Frohmann

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 253 Words | Posted 9/23/2008 | Comments
As iStockphoto's newly promoted chief operating officer Kelly Thompson told Selling Stock a month ago, the company has officially announced the opening of its European headquarters in Berlin. Dittmar Frohmann, formerly a regional director at Fotolia, has joined iStockphoto as European director.

Thought Equity Footage Opens Ad Week V

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 266 Words | Posted 9/23/2008 | Comments
Advertising Week V kicked off on Monday evening with an opening concert at New York's Nokia Theatre. The Third Millennium: 2000 -- Present, a short film composed almost entirely of footage provided by Thought Equity Motion, was screened during the evening's festivities.

PicApp Raises $3.2 Million, Retires Flash, Signs Newscom

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 260 Words | Posted 9/22/2008 | Comments
San Francisco-based ad-supported image-licensing platform PicApp has secured $3.2 million in a funding round led by Israeli venture-capital firm Carmel Ventures. The PicScout spin-off, which recently became a separate business venture, has also announced a technological update of its product and a new content partner.

Small, Medium Businesses Maintain Ad Spending

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 141 Words | Posted 9/22/2008 | Comments
According to media researchers at The Kelsey Group, tough economic times are not always accompanied by a reduction in ad dollars.

The Future Of Stock Photography

By Jim Pickerell | 2050 Words | Posted 9/22/2008 | Comments
Photographers still ask me, “Is the Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of Getty Images good or bad (for photographers)?” As far as I can see whether or not Getty is owned by H&F doesn’t make a whole lot of difference for photographers.

a21 Launches Value Art

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 26 Words | Posted 9/19/2008 | Comments (1)
a21 Group launches another low-budget decorating offering.

Digital Railroad Courts PhotoShelter Refugees, Boasts Big-Ticket Sales

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 430 Words | Posted 9/19/2008 | Comments
Digital Railroad has extended a discount to members of the PhotoShelter Collection, which is scheduled to shut down on Oct. 10. Membership is required to participate in the DRR Marketplace, which this month generated $20,000 in royalties for one contributing stock agency.

Much Ado About Greenberg: Then and Now

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 640 Words | Posted 9/18/2008 | Comments (2)
Though Jill Greenberg is no stranger to political controversy, the reaction to her release of doctored images of presidential candidate John McCain is markedly different from the reception of her last statement-art, the 2006 series "End Time."

Getty's Subscription Plan Angers Photographers

By Jim Pickerell | 619 Words | Posted 9/18/2008 | Comments (2)
There is growing concern among Stock Artist Alliance photographers and many other Getty Images' contributors about the company's Premium Access Subscription strategy. Increasingly, Getty's premium rights-managed and royalty-free images are licensed for fees of less than $10, with the photographer's royalty share a fraction of that.

Annenberg Space for Photography to Open in 2009 in LA

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 215 Words | Posted 9/17/2008 | Comments
The Annenberg Foundation, one of America's largest family foundations, is financing a community space dedicated to digital images and print photography. The 10,000-square-foot Annenberg Space for Photography will open in spring 2009 in Los Angeles. In addition to traditional-format work, a state-of-the-art digital presentation system will display digital photographs in large and high-resolution format.

PhotoNetCast Contemplates Future of Stock

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 239 Words | Posted 9/17/2008 | Comments
Prompted by the Sept. 11 announcements of massive Corbis layoffs and the closing of the PhotoShelter Collection, PhotoNetCast has released a podcast that contemplates the future of stock photography. Several participants provide their answers to the question: "Is the future really just microstock?"

Masterfile Releases "Green World"

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 105 Words | Posted 9/16/2008 | Comments
Next issue of Masterfile's File takes on environmentalism, hits mid-September.

70% of Nothing

By Jim Pickerell | 500 Words | Posted 9/16/2008 | Comments (2)
One thing PhotoShelter's demise teaches us is that 70% of nothing is still nothing. Percentage alone is not the critical issue for photographers. Nevertheless, too many focus on that issue, because it is the only absolute in a relationship where someone else is licensing rights to your photography.

ITN Source Launches Clips on Demand

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 66 Words | Posted 9/16/2008 | Comments
New offering makes rights-ready footage available for instant purchase and download.

Greenberg Under Fire for Doctored McCain Images

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 408 Words | Posted 9/16/2008 | Comments (2)
While the The Atlantic's cover image of John McCain is unremarkable, photographer Jill Greenberg has been embroiled in controversy over her treatment of the outtakes and comments made to Photo District News.

Digital Railroad: Here for the Long Haul

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 330 Words | Posted 9/15/2008 | Comments (2)
Digital Railroad comments on the closing of the PhotoShelter Collection.

Pacific Stock Celebrates 20 Years

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 34 Words | Posted 9/15/2008 | Comments (1)
Hawaii Kai-based Pacific Stock has turned 20.

Negotiating - Establishing The Fee

By Jim Pickerell | 2833 Words | Posted 9/15/2008 | Comments
This story deals with a number of things that need to be considered when negotiating. It includes a discussion of how to deal with multiple of a single image in multiple publications, or many insertions in a single publication. There is a discussion of buyouts, discounting where there are multiple images licensed in a single sale, reuse and revision and minimum price. Finally there is a checklist of things to consider when negotiating.

PhotoShelter Collection Closes, CEO Blames Getty

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 663 Words | Posted 9/12/2008 | Comments (3)
A year since its launch, the PhotoShelter Collection is no more. Company CEO Allen Murabayashi delivers the news to contributors via email and corporate blog.

Corbis Cuts, Reshuffles Staff

By Jim Pickerell | 381 Words | Posted 9/12/2008 | Comments
A year after its acquisition of Veer, Corbis will reduce its workforce by about 175 employees between now and the end of the year. The company has also promoted several senior executives.

Shutterstock: 60 Million Downloads

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 418 Words | Posted 9/11/2008 | Comments
Shutterstock has announced that it passed 60 million downloads since 2005. In homage to the founding editor of Selling Stock, let's try to put these numbers in context.

Survey: Shift to Digital, Pull, Social Marketing

By Jim Pickerell | 411 Words | Posted 9/11/2008 | Comments
When marketers were asked to list the top 10 qualities they expected their advertising and marketing agencies to exhibit in the coming year, the number one request was "greater knowledge of the digital space." Even more important was knowledge of pull marketing via social networks, online communities, wikis and blogs.

Van Parys Media, Belga News Agency to Room

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 40 Words | Posted 9/10/2008 | Comments
Belgium's leading stock-image and news agencies move in together.

Jupiterimages Launches Jupiterimages Unlimited Plus

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 64 Words | Posted 9/10/2008 | Comments
Jupiterimages has launched a second subscription product that combines traditional stock with microstock.

a21 Launches Eco Art, Discontinues Talks with Applejack

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 194 Words | Posted 9/10/2008 | Comments
Jacksonville, Fla.-based a21 is promoting a new line of eco-conscious art. The company has also discontinued negotiations with Applejack, which stood to become its majority shareholder.

Shift of News Market to Affect Image Use

By Jim Pickerell | 536 Words | Posted 9/10/2008 | Comments
Changes in how news and information are delivered to the general public raise some interesting questions about the future of image use.

Idée Updates Flickr Multicolr Search

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 81 Words | Posted 9/9/2008 | Comments
The Flickr Multicolr search has been updated to work with 10 million Creative Commons-licensed images hosted by Flickr.

Getty’s Stirton Wins Visa d’Or Features Award

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 250 Words | Posted 9/9/2008 | Comments
Getty Images staff photographer Brent Stirton has won the Visa d’Or Features Award at this week’s international photojournalism festival Visa pour l’Image.

The User-Generated Future of Information

By Jim Pickerell | 738 Words | Posted 9/9/2008 | Comments
The majority of stock images licensed by traditional sources are being used in some type of printed product. If that is a focus of your business, expect continuing declines.

Getting Photos To Market

By Jim Pickerell | 811 Words | Posted 9/9/2008 | Comments
For photographers there are basically three ways to get photos where customers can see them. The first is setting up a searchable site. This can be costly and tends not to work well unless the photographer has a broad niche image collection, and a solid base of customers. Being recognized as a leading light in the niche helps.

Defining Licensing Models

By Jim Pickerell | 1214 Words | Posted 9/9/2008 | Comments
This article defines the six most common methods for licensing stock images. They are: RM, RR, MRR, RF, Subscription and Microstock.

a21 Launches PostersEtc.Com

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 73 Words | Posted 9/8/2008 | Comments
ArtSelect has launched a poster and decorating Web site to target younger, hipper customers.

Winners of Getty Grants Explore War, Crime; New Student Grant Program

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 249 Words | Posted 9/8/2008 | Comments
Getty Images has awarded three editorial grants and committed to continue the program in 2009, when four $5,000 student grants will also be up for grabs.

Stock Photo Prices - Buyout

By Jim Pickerell | 407 Words | Posted 9/8/2008 | Comments
Whenever you get a request for a buyout of an images the first thing to do is clarify what the clients means by “buyout”. More often than not, when the client uses gthe term “buyout” their definition is very different from the photographer's.

Stock Photo Prices - Trade Show Exhibits & Powerpoint

By Jim Pickerell | 476 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This article discusses pricing strategies and provides suggested prices for licensing images for Trade Show and Powerpoint uses.

Stock Photo Prices - Display Advertising

By Jim Pickerell | 701 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on prices non-publications advertising uses such as: billboards, point-of-purchase banners or murals, electronic displays, transit and airline posters, bus kiosks, transit and taxi cards.

Stock Photo Prices - Newspaper Editorial

By Jim Pickerell | 319 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This story provides a schedule that is useful when establishing a price for editorial usage in newspapers. Prices should be based on the size of usage on the page and the circulation of the publication. While these prices are reasonable, many struggling publications refuse to pay these rates.

Stock Photo Prices - Calendars & Greeting Cards

By Jim Pickerell | 576 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This article provides strategies and prices for licensing images for calendar and greeting card uses.

Stock Photo Prices - Educational & Retail Posters

By Jim Pickerell | 404 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This article provides prices for use of images on Educational and Retail Posters. For more information about educational uses see Stock Photo Prices - Textbooks, JHP2067

Stock Photo Prices - Electronic Uses

By Jim Pickerell | 2350 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
Pricing rights-managed web uses has become very difficult in the last few years due to the availability of microstock at extremely low prices. Currently, web uses represent a far bigger share of the market than print uses and the proportional web share seems likely to continue to grow as the print declines.

Stock Photo Prices - Magazine Reprints

By Jim Pickerell | 244 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
When magazines do a favorable story on a company or product, the company often requests reprints of the story to use in marketing and public relations. These reprints often have great value for the company because they represent an independent point of view.

Stock Photo Prices - Newspaper Advertising

By Jim Pickerell | 2022 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
Newspaper advertising rates are based on how broadly the ad is used, not whether the publication is characterized as National, Regional or Local. National publications tend to be toward smaller circulations. Based on this theory, ads in National publications will tend to be priced higher than those in Regional or Trade publications. This story provides suggested prices.

Stock Photo Prices - Public Relations

By Jim Pickerell | 308 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
One of the most difficult uses to price is public relations. The client who wants to buy a picture for PR use wants to allow magazines and newspapers unlimited use of that picture forever, completely free of charge. This article will provide you with some things to think about before licensing rights to a stock photo for PR use.

Stock Photo Prices - Magazine Editorial

By Jim Pickerell | 380 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This story provides a schedule that is useful when establishing a price for editorial usage. Prices should be based on the size of usage on the page and the circulation of the publication.

Stock Photo Prices - Fine Art Prints

By Jim Pickerell | 636 Words | Posted 9/6/2008 | Comments
This story provides some information relative to establishing prices for fine art prints. These prices can vary greatly depending on the reputation of the artist and whether the images will be used by a private individual or commercially.

Sales Statistics: Helping Photographers Make Wise Business Decisions

By Jim Pickerell | 698 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
Why aren't traditional agencies doing as much as microstock portals to help photographers make better business decisions?

Marilyn Monroe Estate Loses Second Right-of-Publicity Case

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 543 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
On Tuesday, the United States District Court of New York found for Shaw Family Archives in its right-of-publicity lawsuit against licensing company CMG Worldwide and Marilyn Monroe LLC, the estate of the late actress. Echoing a March decision in a similar case by a California court, the ruling places the control of licensing photographs of Monroe with the images' copyright holders.

Stock Photo Prices - Packaging

By Jim Pickerell | 529 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for packaging. Because packaging comes in many different shapes and sizes, it is often difficult to base the price on page size (1/4-page 1/2-page, etc.) We recommend that you find out as much as possible about the overall package and how your image will appear on it before establishing a price. It is often useful to ask to see a layout of how the image will be used.

Stock Photo Prices - Point Of Purchase

By Jim Pickerell | 404 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price point of purchase pieces, including stand alone counter cards, case cards, register cards or table tents. These are meant to influence the customer’s purchasing decision at the point of sale.

Stock Photo Prices - Free Standing Inserts

By Jim Pickerell | 232 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for free standing inserts or advertising supplements that are inserted in newspapers or magazines.

Stock Photo Prices - Corporate Annual Reports

By Jim Pickerell | 304 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for corporate annual and quarterly reports.

Stock Photo Prices - Corporate Editorial

By Jim Pickerell | 347 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
Magazines and newspapers published by a corporation, institution or fraternal organization are know as house organs. When house organ distributed to member of an organization other than employees they are considered external, as the members are essentially their customers. The term "Internal House Organ" is used to refer to those publications that are distributed to employees only. It is important to clarify who the audience is in order to set the price. This story provides charts with prices based on the size of usage and the circulation.

Stock Photo Prices - Hang Tags

By Jim Pickerell | 230 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for hang tags. Hang Tags are usually attached to items like clothing or sunglasses, where the product may not be sold inside packaging, but the manufacturer still wants to associate the product with some image.

Stock Photo Prices - Television

By Jim Pickerell | 586 Words | Posted 9/5/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages in television for both advertising and editorial usages.

DRR, Qualex Offer Print Fulfillment

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 70 Words | Posted 9/4/2008 | Comments
DRR to offer print-fulfillment services next year.

Creative Trend: Back to Basics

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 294 Words | Posted 9/4/2008 | Comments
Say goodbye to the couture, the big and the expensive. The public is shifting to simpler pleasures, meaningful relationships and social responsibility.

Mary Evans Signs Castle Howard

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 178 Words | Posted 9/3/2008 | Comments
Yorkshire estate adds works of artistic and historical significance to Mary Evans' collection.

Peter Arnold Launches RF Collection

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 44 Words | Posted 9/3/2008 | Comments
New York-based rights-managed agency ventures into the royalty-free space.

Photolibrary, age fotostock in Distribution Agreement

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 53 Words | Posted 9/3/2008 | Comments

Stock Photo Prices - Brochures

By Jim Pickerell | 390 Words | Posted 9/3/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for all types of brochures, catalogs, direct mail pieces, single sheet flyers and promo cards.

Corbis Images Part of London Exhibit

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 57 Words | Posted 9/2/2008 | Comments
Projects by two German design firms use Corbis imagery.

Kursiv Releases KIM Keywording

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 340 Words | Posted 9/2/2008 | Comments
Swiss photography agency Kursiv has released KIM Keywording, a new software package designed to speed up metadata entry for large image volumes. The application supports up to 10 languages and makes use of contextual keywording.

Alamy Announces Contributor Event

By Julia Dudnik Stern | 31 Words | Posted 9/2/2008 | Comments
Alamy's annual contributor event will take place on Nov. 7 in London.

Stock Photo Prices - Advertising/Magazines

By Jim Pickerell | 2225 Words | Posted 9/2/2008 | Comments
This article provides information on how to price stock photo usages for advertising in National, Regional or Local magazines.

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This stock photography news site focuses on the business side of photography with a special emphasis on stock photography. Our goal is to help photographers maximize their earnings based on the quality of their work and the commitment they are prepared to make to the trade. The information provided will be applicable to part-timers as well as full time professional photographers. We’ll leave it to others to teach photographers how to take better pictures.

Jim Pickerell launched his career as a photographer in 1963. In 1990 he began publishing a regular newsletter on stock photography. In 1995 the information was made available online as well as in print and was gradually expanded to a daily service. Click here for Pickerell's full biography.

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