Former Getty Images chief financial officer Lawrence Gould and vice president of e-commerce Tom Donnelly have launched their second venture: microstock business Vivozoom. The duo launched royalty-free stock business ImagePick in 2007. The differentiating factor is that Vivozoom is the only microstock Web site that warrants the use of its imagery—to the tune of committing to cover damages and costs of up to $25,000.
Vivozoom’s Web site goes as far as to quote the most recent user agreements of two leading competitors, iStockphoto and Shutterstock, both of which warn users, in near-identical language, that “the entire risk as to the quality, performance and use of the image(s) is solely with you.”
According to Vivozoom, its North American and European market research has revealed unmet demand for micro-priced images that offer a higher level of legal protection. “Corporate buyers of images were shocked when they discovered that images from existing microstock businesses are not guaranteed legally safe to use,” said Gould.
The new site offers pay-as-you-go and subscription products. If the team behind Vivozoom is correct in betting on legally pristine content, this may pose a substantial problem for traditional sellers, many of which maintain that legal warranties are among the factors that warrant higher-than-microstock pricing.