As of December 1, 2013
Universal Images Group Limited (UIG) has opened a new Content Management facility for Asia based in Tokyo, Japan.
In the past year UIG, founded by George Sinclair (and owner of the Virtual Picture Desk) has also opened content and distributor support offices in Italy and Australia. The other offices that existed before 2013 are in Chelmsford, Essex and London, in the UK, and in Chicago and New York.
The Tokyo office will be managed by Alexander Sinclair, who has worked in the industry for over ten years, including positions outside the UIG business with ImageState and Learning Pictures, as well as the Content Project Manager for Britannica’s Image Quest Online Subscription Services.
Effective June 1st 2013 UIG was appointed the exclusive distributor, outside of Japan, for the Japan Travel Bureau picture library which has over 700,000 photographic images in its existing archives. JTB Photo continues to add a further 10,000 new pictures every month sourced and edited from their 900 photographers. The pictures support the 175 JTB capital city travel bureaus around the world, as well as the JTB Communications Group which employs 27,000 people with their 127 companies. UIG is editing the archives and new submissions for international distribution. The content is rights managed and the images selected will be those created 2010 and later so images are new and fresh.
In Asia, UIG also co-represents Amana Images in Japan for rights managed content for the education market as well as Topic Photos & EuroCreon in Korea for international distribution.