Random Thoughts 97

9

March 3, 2005

Getty Announces New Release Categories

Getty Images has announced a new strategy for model and property releases that on its face may provide the company with more flexibility to accept certain images that might have been rejected in the past for lack of a release. However, a great deal will depend on how it is implemented on a case-by-case basis.

They have now defined five image types as follows:

Category One: (CI) - "All necessary releases have been secured."

Category Two: (CII) - This category includes three types of "Unreleased Imagery" that they will now consider if they are properly identified.

CII (a) - "low-risk images", for example certain crowd shots, certain archive images, unrecognizable people shots with property that doesn't need releases but for which our customers my question the need for releases;

CII(b) - "Rights & Clearance Images" for which either manual-clearance services of "Image Guarantee" (Getty Images bears the risk) are available [NOT AVAILABLE FOR RF]; and

CII(c) - "Editorial use only images", for example shots taken at the Olympic games or Premier League football matches, of shots depicting death or disaster scenes [NOT AVAILABLE FOR RF].

Category Three: "No release, but no release required"

CIII - Images of mountains, sky, waves, etc.

Stockphotofinder Update

The new portal, Stockphotofinder, is reporting very rapid growth after only four months in business. They currently have more than 700,000 images from 40 different organizations on the site.

In the four months since the launch on October 20, 2004 172,050 potential image buyers have used the site and this pace is accelerating with 80,012 new users arriving in February. There has been over 325,000 page views so far and 138,751 of these were in February.

Buyers are also finding images they can use. 23,965 lightboxes have been created, most of them in the last 30 days, and potential buyers have clicked on thumbnails and been delivered to the rights holder's website 70,411 times in the four months.

In addition, large images users are showing interest in using the Stockphotofinders resource to build custom sites that will allow their staff to search only those images from companies with whom they have pre-negotiated usage arrangements. The first announcement of such an arrangement is expected in the near future. As this strategy develops it is expected that it will dramatically increase the usage of images from many of the partners.

For more about Stockphotofinder.com see Story 673.

PixScout Finds More Unauthorized Uses

Bahar Gidwani of Index Stock Imagery claims that by using PixScout they locate about 300 questionable uses per month.

In a letter to photographers Ian Lishman, VP Visual
Content at Superstock, said that in the first month of using PicScout the company uncovered a potential $140,000 in unauthorized uses.

Getty Response To PicScout And SAA

The SAA and PicScout recently uncovered extensive unauthorized use on the Internet of Rights Managed images represented by Getty Images (See Story 688). Getty has responded with an explanation of their strategy for dealing with unauthorized use.

Deb Trevino, VP of Communications at Getty said, "As an intellectual property business, respect for and protection of copyrights are at the core of our business. We support the SAA's efforts to raise awareness on this critical issue. Getty Images has long aggressively tracked and sought compensation for unauthorized use of our imagery and is constantly evaluating technologies to make the process of uncovering unauthorized use and compensating photographers more efficient. There are a number of visual search technologies which have been developed in recent years, and we are currently testing one such technology which we believe will integrate well into our existing systems." It is recommended that contributors visit www.gettyimages.com/contributors for a full update on their strategy for dealing with suspected infringements. The following explanation is available at that site.

Getty Images considers the subject of copyright protection with the utmost importance and has an active program and a range of measures specifically designed to deal with the issue. In the light of the recent SAA announcement around work with PicScout, we would like to update you on our current strategy with regard to improving control over unauthorized use.

We are committed to continuing to do all that we can to enforce copyright laws and ensure that both our company and our photographers and filmmakers are compensated for their work. We employ a team within the legal department who are dedicated to ensuring worldwide Copyright Compliance. Their sole task is to protect copyright by tracking and pursuing copyright infringements on behalf of the company and the company's photographers and filmmakers. We are growing our unauthorized use program throughout the world.

For sometime we have also been evaluating methods and technologies, to make this process of uncovering unauthorized use more efficient and effective. We are confident that we have found such a solution and are currently launching a pilot program to test this technology and are optimistic about how this test will turn out. Further, Getty Images is interested in technologies that will help us address potential unauthorized use beyond the Internet (i.e. print), and we believe we have found such a solution. Further details will be announced soon.

When we find infringements, our experience shows that they are often made as a result of client error. Our policy, therefore, is to turn infringements into licenses, and infringers into customers. The process we use is an educational one to inform the client about what copyright is and where they went wrong. Our aim is to avoid legal action but we will not hesitate to use it when the need arises.

We will of course research the information provided by the SAA and PicScout and act on any unauthorized uses and we thank them for their efforts. We continue to welcome and encourage any individual or organisation with information about suspected infringements to contact us, when requested in the strictest of confidence, as follows:

If you have a working relationship with Getty Images, we recommend contacting your Photographer & Filmmaker Services contact. Alternatively, and if you do not have a relationship with Getty Images, we recommend contacting: US: Mary Walsh, Copyright Compliance Specialist mary.walsh@gettyimages.com or in EMEA: Audrey Maslard, Copyright Compliance Specialist audrey.maslard@gettyimages.com

Alamy Collection Doubles In Size

According to James West, CEO of Alamy, they have doubled the size of their collection since March 2004. They now have 2.3 million images from 260 agencies and 3,800 photographers.

Alamy is scheduled to launch a new site in March 2005 that will introduce "search within results", "more like this" and "one-click zoom" that will make searching faster and simpler to find the right image. Additional projects are under development for release later in the year that will bring further improvements to the speed and relevancy of the search engine.

Lynn Martin Joins PictureArts

PictureArts has announced that Lynn Martin has joined the company in the position of Vice President of Product Strategy. Ms. Martin will oversee the strategic development of Picture Arts's image collections that include Nonstock, FoodPix, Botanica and Brand X Pictures. She will also be responsible for creative intelligence, competitive analysis and third party image sourcing.

"With the fast-changing landscape of today's stock picture world it is extremely important for us to bring savvy industry veterans onto our team. Lynn is well-known and highly respected within our industry, and we are extremely pleased to have her join us," said Jeffrey Burke, PictureArts' President and CEO. "Her experience with The Image Bank and the Aperture Foundation, as well as with Getty and Corbis, adds depth to our company's management team. We will certainly benefit from her creative and strategic insights into both royalty free and rights managed picture products."

Corbis Trims Zefa Workforce

In its moves to consolidate the Corbis/Zefa operation 30 positions have been eliminated. Most of these positions are in Dusseldorf.

Jennifer Hurshell told Photo District News that most of the positions are for "back end services" like human resources, finance and technology. Many of the employees will stay on until the end of the year. However, to present the least disruption Corbis decided to notify these employees as soon as possible.

None of Zefa's art directors of sales team will be affected. Zefa's North American creative director, Lisa Curesky and her two-person staff moved to the Corbis New York office at the end of February.

Getty Announces Winners of Editorial Grants

Getty Images has announced that David S. Holloway and Dario Mitidieri are the first two winners of its Grants for Editorial Photography program that was launched in September 2004. Each will receive $20,000 to execute their photojournalism proposals.

Holloway, of Arlington, VA, is using his grant to travel across the U.S. to document the lives of white power supporters attempting to infiltrate mainstream society with their perspectives on race. Holloway will leverage his experience, gained as a freelance photojournalist for national and regional publications, to raise awareness of this underground group and their controversial agenda.

Mitidieri, of London, UK, works in the tradition of reportage photography for UK and international media. He will use his grant to communicate the story behind the UK's teenage pregnancy rate, the highest in Western Europe. Mitidieri will provide a personal account, telling the real stories behind the headlines from the perspective of the young parents who are often condemned by the media.

More than 100 photographers from 24 countries submitted applications for this first round of the Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography. Getty plans to award five grants of $20,000 each annually.

The first round was judged by Alain Genestar, editor-in-chief, Paris Match; Stephen Mayes, director, Art and Commerce; and renowned photojournalist, Reza, from the Webistan Agency.

The second round of entries should be postmarked by June 15, 2005 and the winners will be announced in September, 2005. For more information about the program go to: www.gettyimages.com/editorial-grants.

Ad Agency Market In U.S.

A new report on the Ad Agency market is being prepared by Dr. Joe Webb's Strategies For Management company, and will be released in April.

The report is titles "U.S. Ad Agency & Services Business 1997-2009" and is available for $2,875. It will examine the demographics and trends of the industry and provide detailed breakdowns about various aspects of the $60 billion ad agency and advertising services industry that consists of over 38,000 individual business (each averaging about 10 employees), as well as 95,000 freelancers and sole practitioners.

Some of topics on a historical and forecast basis include:

• Past, present and future numbers of agencies and their employees;

  
  

• Sizes of agency businesses by number of employees and annual revenues;

• Number of freelance ad agencies and sole practitioners;

• How many advertising agencies are started and closed annually;

• Where firms get revenues (service mix) and how this is changing;

  
  

• Largest establishments' share of billings;

• Key ration data, such as receipts per business, receipts per employee, payroll per business, and moe;

• Capital expenditures by agency size; and

• Other key demographics.

For more information about the report contact: agencystudy@sfminc.com or call Vince Naselli at 1-732-568-0316.

PACA Annual Meeting Announced

The Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) annual meeting will be held April 29th to May 1st at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel. Highlights of the meeting include a presentation from Adobe Systems and a buyer panel discussion sponsored and coordinated by Getty Images.

Adobe's James Alexander, Director of Emerging Businesses, will present "The Ever-changing Stock Photography Landscape: Exciting New Ways to obtain and work with Stock Photos". This high-level business view of the stock industry will look at current trends and explore what companies, such as Adobe, are doing to change the way images are distributed and purchased.

Getty Images will bring together a group of buyer's on a panel "Search: The Customer Perspective". Stock agencies deal with search issues on their websites from a provider's point of view every day, but understanding what drives customers' search is the key for our industry's future. Come find out what customers want and need, love and hate, and how they perceive our decisions about key wording, relevance and metadata.

"Every year our event becomes more and more valuable to our membership. With support from general members and corporate sponsors, we bring together programs that address the most timely and critical issues for our businesses," says Chris Ferrone, PACA President.

The Renaissance Hotel is located at 515 Madison Street, Seattle, Washington.
Registration forms are available on the PACA website www. www.pacaoffice.org . You must be a PACA member to attend this event. If you haven't attended an annual meeting in the past, this is your opportunity to participate in the most informative and co-operative program in the stock industry!

Other important sessions will include a panel on digital editing and how to streamline the process in your agency. A legal panel lead by PACA attorney, Nancy Wolff, will focus on copyright infringement "Infringers, Now that you've found them, what do you do?"

For more information contact Cathy Aron, Executive Director at
execdirector@pacaoffice.org or log onto www. www.pacaoffice.org