StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

Advertising Agency DDB Berlin Refuses To Pay For Possible Photo Usage In Advertising Campaign: The Very Special Story Of A Superb Flickr Photo

The story of the image to the left from the Flickr user Lorenzo D. Dominguez (here you can watch his photos on Flickr) starts with:

"I work for a big company, a Fortune 100 [financial services] company [in Manhattan], as a director of marketing and communications. In fact, I’ve worked in advertising and marketing for twenty years now.

Thus, I well know that the standard and most ethical business practice is that you get your photos from either internal sources for art, photos and design or your company purchases images from stock photo companies or independent photogs for both internal and external presentations, storyboards and mock advertisements."

Lorenzo´s user name on Flickr is lorenzodom, and he is apparently one of Flickr´s most succesful photographers with some 17,000 images online:

QuickLinks For 2006-09-28

• Status of the Orphan Works bill:
  We have great news! The latest Orphan Works bill appears to have died in committee. On Wednesday, Sept. 27, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), announced that he was withdrawing the bill from consideration at that markup session, which is likely to be the last one this year. He said that he did not see any reasonable chance that it would be signed into law in the current Congress. He also said that he plans to introduce another bill when the new Congress convenes next year. [...]
  This battle has been won, and we can breathe easier for a while. But the war is not over. ASMP will be watching closely to be sure that the bill does not suddenly reappear in any late-fall, “lame duck” session. And we will start drafting our own version of a new bill, favorable to photographers and artists, for possible introduction in the next Congress.
  ASMP.
  Tags: Orphan Works ASMP

QuickLinks For 2006-09-27

• AP Images Rolls Out New Web Site:
  With the new web site, customers will be able to search the agency's wire service, an archive of 500,000 historical photos, and creative stock images provided through a partnership with Jupiter Images. [...]
  At a demonstration of the web site at the AP's New York headquarters last week, Cameron invoked Getty by name several times, saying AP Images will go head-to-head with Getty for editorial customers. The AP, however, is not trying to compete with Getty for the lucrative market of advertising art buyers. [...]
  Pictures are sold a la carte, by subscription, or at metered rates – say, letting a customer download up to 200 images a month for a fixed price, then charging per image beyond that.  [...]
  The agency is also offering a carrot to make the new marketing effort more appealing to AP photographers. A clause added to AP staffers' contracts in February lets them shoot stock images on their own time, submit them for sale through AP Images, and share 35 percent of the royalties.
  Daryl Lang/PDN.
  Among the growing list of AP content partners are Tim Graham, the UK Press Association, VII Photo and Women's Wear Daily.
  •Related: AP Images Launches New Website (AmPhoto)
  Tags: Associated Press AP Images

QuickLinks For 2006-09-26

• Interviewed: Adelheid Mers on Vilém Flusser:
  Flusser proposed a revolutionary new way of thinking about photography with the publication of his book, "Towards a Philosophy of Photography", in 1983.
  Adelheid Mers is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I recently asked Mers to comment on the late media philosopher Vilém Flusser, and to give me an overview of his ideas as they relate to visual communication and photography.
  Christoph Bakke/LuckyPix.Blog.
  Tag: Vilém Flusser visual communication and photography

Photokina 2006

I´m off to the Photokina, the world's largest and most famous imaging fair, for meeting other handsome jerks and witty geniuses at the "Meet the Professionals" area, the contact forum for representatives of the creative worlds of photography, advertising, press content services and electronic media, in Hall 1.

And in case I got enough pocket change, I got to get me one of these.

Present news coverage from the Photokina:

New Yahoo Group For Selling Stock Photography

selling_stock_photography is a new Yahoo group created by Fred Voetsch of Acclaim Images. In one of his first posts Fred noted that "I started this group on a whim, mainly because I was tired of the censorship at the STOCK PHOTO forum. Yes, I actually had posts that were not approved by the moderator. I also want this group to have a more progressive attitude but that will depend on its members".

QuickLinks For 2006-09-23

• Whose content is it anyway?
  Media executives are embracing user-generated sites, encouraging amateur talent to upload photos and videos. But who should own the copyright?
  At recent industry fest IBC in Amsterdam, Robert Amlung, head of technology at German broadcaster ZDF, said its programme to encourage viewers to upload photos and videos to the ZDF website had proved a success, and was clear on rights. "We want to own the rights, so if someone puts images up on our site, they are giving their rights away," he said. It seems viewers can have the fame; the broadcaster wants the money.
  Guardian Unlimited Technology.
  Related:
  
  • MAX Magazine Feels Really Sorry: How To Use Flickr Photographers To Maximize Your Company´s Profit (June 24, 2006)
  Tags: user-generated content copyright

After Taking Pictures For Fun French Police Arrests Fotolia´s CEO Thibaud Elziere, Terrorism Allegation

I don't know if it ever happened to you, but in case you ever had to report from a Greenpeace demonstration in Paris, then you probably have experienced that the police men in Paris are very tough and robust guys, at least for european standards, and sometimes don´t care if you have a press card and carry two Nikon bodies.

Today of course, out of security concerns and out of that omnipresent anti-terrorism surveillance thing, it´s much more easy to run into trouble with the french capitals´ police.

QuickLinks For 2006-09-21

• Again Pino Granata: "Is there any future for photographers and agents?":
  After Karsten Risseeuw of Zurich-based stock agency Kursiv responded to Pino Granata and Pino later reaffirmed his position, Jim Pickerell has written a long follow-up in Story 873, "Is There A Future For Stock Agents?" (subscription requ.).
  Pino´s opinion was even quoted on Yahoo´s Finance Message Board/Getty Images.
  Tags: Granata Images, Granata Press, Pino Granata

QuickLinks For 2006-09-20

• Getty Tightens Its Belt or does the phenomenon of crowdsourcing create unemployed crowds?:
  Ever since Getty's stock price began its quick descent from $80 a share to around $50 earlier this year, the normally cash-flush company has been looking to cut costs. Employees have been told to watch their expense accounts, and rumors abound that layoffs are coming, with 10 percent* cuts being bandied about. Nobody wants to hear talk of job cuts, except maybe Wall Street.
  Jay DeFoore/State of the Art, in the new NSA powered Gossip Roundup corner of AmPhoto.
  * 2005 number of Getty employees: 1,823.
  Tag: Getty Images

QuickLinks For 2006-09-19

• Microstock Photography: BigStockPhoto Vs. ShutterStock:
  Which One is the Better Place to Earn Money with Your Stock Images?
  Associated Content.
  Tags: BigStockPhoto ShutterStock microstock photography

Good Bye Google News, Online Newspaper Netzeitung Hits $10 Million In Revenues

The following is off the omnipresent photo- and image-related topic:

• German Pure-Web Newspaper In Line For $10 Million Revenues:
  Netzeitung.de is a six-year-old web-only German newspaper that has a team of 60 journalists, an army of citizen reporters - and which is in line to turn a profit this year with revenues of $10 million [...] this “experiment in online news” has become a budding media empire with acquisitions in various health, auto and technology sites. [...] the financial viability of this site is significant. [...] Netzeitung has achieved an authority and editorial reputation something akin to a traditional newspaper brand, but editor-in-chief Michael Maier doubts he could have developed the site if the owner was a traditional newspaper.
  Paidcontent.org.
  Tag: Netzeitung

Pino Granata: "Is there any future for photographers and agents?"

Pino Granata (Flickr portrait), founder and president of Milan-based Granata Press/Granata Images founded in 1985, recently wrote a letter to the The Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) to express his concerns on what is happening in the stock photo industry currently and the content is for sure of interest to a broader audience:
 

Letter from Pino Granata/Granata Press

Is there any future for photographers and agents?

I guess there are a lot of people that are crossing their fingers while reading these words, but I do think it’s a proper question to ask. Getty, Corbis, Jupiter and some other agency are fighting to control the market and in this war there are a lot of casualties. Now I think with the subscription we have reached a point of no return.

QuickLinks For 2006-09-15

• Soleil Securities Starts Getty Images (GYI) at Buy:
  "... with a Buy rating and $59 price target, analyst Christopher Rowen of Channel Mark Capital said, "With the stock off more than 50% from 11/05 highs (compared to a 2% gain in the S&P500 over the same period) reflecting slowing growth and increased worries about low-price competition, we believe the shares are priced for disaster."
  StreetInsider.
  Tags: Getty Images Friday on My Mind

QuickLinks For 2006-09-14

• Jupiter Media Gaining Strength:
  Jupiter also ranked 12th on Fortune's 100 fastest growing companies of 2006, with EPS growth in the last 3 years of 374% and Revenue Growth of 48%. [...] Fortune's annual list includes companies that have the strongest three-year sales, profit and stock growth. Perhaps Jupiter didn't take the top spot due to its lackluster stock growth.[...] Their cash flow as of Q2 06 is around $20 million, not bad considering the last two years they've been on an acquisition spree, buying up a large number of stock photos, illustrations, music, and video content - comparable to an Imelda Marcos shoe shopping spree.[...]  Jupiter's share price has dropped 53% in the last 52 weeks. [...] And that's one of the things we look for here at the Stockmasters: A solid company that's taken a beating over news that, honestly, could have been much worse.
  The Stockmasters, Market Commentary for the Savyy Investor.
  Tags: Jupitermedia Jupiterimages

JBG Photo: New Job Positions

JBG Photo is a Los Angeles based Celebrity Syndication and stock photo agency that is always looking for talented, motivated and creative individuals to be a part of the team. JBG Photo represents the work of photographers with images gracing the pages of magazines across the globe as well as being used commercially for advertising and promotion.

JBG Photo is currently seeking:

• Sales Account Executive

• Imaging Specialist / Scanning Operator

All details and contact information at Worldwide Stock Photo Industry Jobs.

Art4Love/Art4LoveImages Runs New Marketing Campaign Using MySpace

Multi-channel provider of fine art and imagery Art4Love was founded in 2000 with the focus on the $10 billion a year (2004 estimation) corporate art marketplace, and created its digital rights licensing and distribution subsidiary Art4LoveImages.com in January 2006. Plans were then to grow the imagery from over 15,000 to around 35,000 images "within the next six months". Art4Love says now the company represents the rights of almost 18,000 pieces of original artwork of 1,300 artists from 45 countries.

Art4Love (AVLN.PK) has currently a market capitalization of $93.75K, the stock is at $0.75 (actually A21 is at $0.27). The company distributes an older (July 2004) business plan online (PDF download, initially the document was called "investor highlights") with the remark in the footnote: "Confidential: Do Not Duplicate".

Nine Eleven Synopsis

• "Eight Magnum Photographers were there at what later became known as Ground Zero. In this story they give their eyewitness accounts of the attack and their perspectives on the consequences, five years later." (APhotoADay)
• "While perusing the archives of world-reknown photographer, Eddie Adams, I came across some photos I hadn't seen of the construction of the buildings .. As the government, land developers and families struggle to rebuild Ground Zero, here is a poignant reminder of how it started." (Allen Murabayashi)
• "Last year, photographer Martin Fuchs put together a multimedia gallery 'Four Years Later'. It was his first attempt to create a multimedia gallery, and he has recently re-edited it." (Peter Marshall)

QuickLinks For 2006-09-11

• Stock options:
  “Online searching is even slower than flipping through a stock book,” says Nick Carter, creative director of Positive by Design. “Before the online revolution, designers couldn’t be bothered looking through books and used the researchers. From a business point of view, it doesn’t make sense for my designers to be spending the whole day online looking for images. It’s just not cost effective.”
  Digit in a long article on the pitfalls of image licensing and how to get the best from picture libraries. Besides quoting James Cape/Photolibrary Group and Gordon Craig/Corbis, the article describes two case studies, one of them is "Jog Design (Project: Your Football Icons) was commissioned by Corbis, to promote the image library in both printed and online media. The brief was to create a campaign that was focused on football but would have a broader appeal".
  Tag: Image licensing

Blend Images: New Job Positions

Blend Images is a stock photography content development company with an exclusive niche focus on ethnically diverse business and lifestyle imagery. Blend produces and delivers fully model released, retouched and keyworded digital files to sales partners worldwide. Blend Images is currently seeking:

• Metadata/Distribution Technician (Seattle)

• Metadata/Content Control Technician (Seattle)

All details and contact information at Worldwide Stock Photo Industry Jobs.

QuickLinks For 2006-09-09

• Veer wins Communication Arts award:
  Communication Arts magazine has chosen the Veer web site as one of this year's Interactive Annual 12 Winners.
  Veer: The Skinny.
  Tag: Veer

• Pro domo:
  The FeedBlitz email subscription service (subscribe here) was not working on Thursday and Friday this week, so you missed around 21 blog posts here and over at The Stock Photo Industry Press Release Cemetery.
  But Phil Hollows of FeedBlitz said he is expecting to fix the problem quickly, and BOOM, this morning FeedBlitz is up and running again.
  Tag: FeedBlitz

QuickLinks For 2006-09-08

• Yin and yang at Perpignan or "I feel that everything I just saw in there I also saw last year, and the year before":
  Of course, this being the photo business, there are no shortage of complaints. Visa has become either too commercial, or it’s not commercial enough. There are too many pictures, or not enough pictures, or they’re the wrong pictures. Everybody has to stand in line for everything. The hotels suck, the waiters are rude and it’s too hot, except when it’s raining. An entertaining sub-plot is the regular skirmishing between the American and French contingents, both of which have a tendency to lack perspective when interacting.
  But Daryl Lang insists on it´s a "fairy tale village".
  So far the best review of the Visa Pour l'Image.
  EPUK.
  Related: A Different View On The Visa Pour l´Image Festival In Perpignan (Sept. 06, 2006)
  Tag: Visa Pour l'Image

Alamy Adds RF Collections Stockbyte, Medio Images, Image100, Imageshop, InsideOutPix, Bananastock, Brand X Pictures, And Image Source

UK-based photo portal Alamy has sent out emails to photo buyers with the message that Alamy "is pleased to announce that the following premium Royalty-Free collections are available through Alamy:

• Image Source
• From Getty Images, Stockbyte and Medio Images;
• From Corbis, Image100, Imageshop and InsideOutPix;
• And from Jupiter Images, Bananastock and Brand X Pictures.

Alamy currently has RF images from over 350 stock agencies, ensuring you can access the leading supplier's collections from a single resource."

QuickLinks For 2006-09-07

• For travel photographers:
  "As a supplier of travel stock photography I want to understand the general book market, and especially the travel guide book market. My investigation here draws on the most recent, publicly available market intelligence and industry statistics available at the British Library, including Key Note market reports and reviews, and Mintel reports."
  London-based photographer and stock image library operator Jim Batty has written a very useful five-sections analysis on "Who buys travel guides? – Travel Guide Market Research, Developing a profile of travel guide buyers using UK book publishing industry statistics and intelligence" with a couple of interesting book buyer profiles.
  Great work, and it´s for free.
  Tag: travel stock photography

Need A Pix? Jupiterimages Unleashes New Comstock Complete Images Subscription Service

Jupiterimages says that the new subscription service Comstock Complete "responds to the demands of creative professionals who need Comstock-quality, high resolution images at an affordable price" and that "the new subscription service offers the volume buyer, who don't have the budget to buy images one at a time, an economical way to access the entire Comstock and Thinkstock libraries for print and Web-resolution images".

Comstock Complete starts with over 100,000 royalty-free images ("lowest per image price for premium stock photos") and covers lifestyles, business, nature, family, fashion, travel, medical, and more. New images will be added monthly.