StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

News from Red Cover Picture Library

From Red Cover:

Red Cover has been going through some difficult times recently, during a period of rapid growth and without the benefit of third party investments.

To this end a formal meeting was held with a representative group of contributors and creditors. At this meeting, administered by Fisher Partners, Chartered Accountants, a plan to take the company forward under the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) was approved unanimously.

"We put forward a number of proposals and all were accepted," comment two contributors, Andrew Twort & Johnny Bouchier.

Pino Granata: About The New Corbis Museum

So I´m about to visit the site of the new Corbis museum: the MofAA. It was time, I thought, for our friend and colleague Bill Gates to do something of some cultural value for the community.

So very excited I go to see this new marvel. Well, it says that it is a virtual museum which - if I understand it right - means that it exists only in the digital world. Well better than nothing, I thought. So I went on www.mofaa.org, ready to see wonderful exhibitions and more.

A few shows are announced and the problems start. It looks like all the shows are reserved for benefactors only and I understand, our friend Bill Gates has a large family to support and he desperately needs my money and your money.

I try to register, but no luck. So I try again and nothing happens. Please, is there anybody who can suggest how I can enjoy the exibitions of this new "virtual" museum?

Jupitermedia Form 10-K

For the records from Jupitermedia´s recent SEC filing (long version with some general country specific numbers on page 5 and page 57; short version of the long SEC filing):

 

New Getty Images SEC Filing Form 10-K

From a real long document:

We believe that our best opportunities include growth in non-English speaking markets, growth in micropayment licensing and the introduction of new products and services. [...]

We plan to accelerate growth in licenses of editorial and creative imagery and other digital media content in non-English speaking countries by expanding our product and service offerings in markets that we have not fully penetrated, by creating or acquiring locally relevant content.  [...]

In 2007, we saw continued change in the competitive dynamics in the stock photography market. Our customers have increasing access to, and awareness of, a variety of imagery sources on the Internet.  [...]

Masterfile: Lay-offs at the stock photo agency, considers to add a microstock component

Like so many other photo agencies these days:

Stock image agency Masterfile laid-off 30 employees earlier this month due to "corporate restructuring", says Masterfile president Steve Pigeon. Twenty people were let go from its Toronto head office and ten from Europe. The company´s headcount now sits at 130 employees globally (100 in Toronto and 30 in Europe).

Although there is no direct evidence that discount microstock sites are cutting into his agency´s profits, Pigeon says it is not unrealistic to assume they are affecting Masterfile´s bottom line.

Pino Granata: Yahoo, Corbis, Flickr and Bill Gates

 

The offer made by Microsoft (Bill Gates) to buy Yahoo for $44 billion is astonishing.

I´m not able to say if Yahoo is worth all that money, but I would say it´s an offer that Yahoo probably can´t refuse to accept, considering that it is only number two, far away from Google.

Of course Yahoo is also involved with Flickr in the photographic business and because of that we are also interested in the matter.

But there is one aspect of the offer that I want to underline. I think it is right to wonder why spending $44 billion when, according to me, Microsoft with all that money and all the synergies they have, they could have started maybe 10 Yahoos and could have been more successful.

It is the same thing that happened with Corbis.

 

Getty gossip, reported by a competitor

  When asked why Klein intends to sell the company now, his answer was that he is "not at liberty to answer", and that Getty Images "at no point talked about [a] sale", only about exploring strategic alternatives.

(Jonathan Klein yesterday in the Q4/2007 Conference Call)

 

The big news (or pending news) is when and if Getty will be sold. The gossip I hear is that offers are on the table today and a deal, if acceptable to the Getty board of directors, will come this month.

(Alan Meckler yesterday in "Getty Images In The News")  

CEO Charles Mauzy About Digital Railroad

I asked Digital Railroad´s CEO Charles Mauzy today about the status of the company (see previous post).

Below is Charles Mauzy´s full response (unedited) which was also sent to DRR members:

 

"DRR is in the process of re-structuring our company and the team along with all of our employees want to make sure we keep key partners/associations/press informed of the changes taking place.

Over the last three years Digital Railroad’s founding team along with our current staff have invested our considerable time and talents to create the most robust and secure online distribution platform for the professional photographer community. With the tremendous support from our photographer and agency members, we are proud to have achieved so much: today Digital Railroad has been entrusted to manage over 8,000,000 images on behalf of our members enabling them to manage, market and sell their work worldwide. We take tremendous pride in the accomplishment, and as impressive as the results above are, we have only just begun to complete the mission we set out to accomplish.

Photolibrary Group responds to Stock Artists Alliance and Media Reports

From today´s official Photolibrary Group statement (or download the full PDF file here), with some some strong expressions ("altered documentation"):

Unjustified concerns have been caused by inaccurate and ill-founded reports in the media and elsewhere, drawing on unauthorized and misleading information circulated in November 2007. Photolibrary therefore needs to correct basic errors that have been published in various outlets.

Photolibrary has funded Indexstock in the amount of $3,736,152 since the date of acquisition. Of this amount the vast majority has been utilized by Indexstock to pay contributor royalties.

Gary Shenk: "Corbis was already profitable"

Shenk said Corbis was already profitable before accounting for nonrecurring costs, including some severance expenses and investments in its technology infrastructure: "I have the moment planned when I can send Bill Gates the first dollar."