April 26, 2005. EMPICS, a Press Association Group company, today announced that it will be handling commercial sales in the UK and Ireland for the photos of The Associated Press (AP), one of the world's leading international news agencies.
With effect from May 1st, 2005, EMPICS customers will have access to AP's highly-respected daily photo production and archive photography via www.empics.com. All AP commercial picture requests and licensing administration for UK and Ireland customers will be handled by the EMPICS team of dedicated account managers and researchers
"Over the last year, EMPICS has diversified from sport photography to also offer the best in news and celebrity images, through its representation of the Press Association's photos," said Phil O'Brien, chief executive at EMPICS. "Working with AP now gives EMPICS a truly international photography production to complement our existing editorial production and is tremendously exciting."
"Picture buyers in the UK will be able to access AP's photos alongside those of EMPICS and the Press Association from a single point of contact… that's high quality, relevant photography across all areas of editorial interest, with the high standards of customer service that EMPICS is known for," said Rob Taggart, Director of Commercial Photo Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the Associated Press
Covering all significant world events in news, sports and entertainment, AP has received 29 photo Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization. AP's digital photo archive includes more than 1.9 million historical and recent pictures, and the AP photo library holds an estimated 10 million negatives and prints dating back over a century
This new arrangement does not affect the photography and photography services provided by AP to its existing Wire customers in the UK and Ireland, who will continue to be served by the AP picture desk and archive in London
About EMPICS
EMPICS is the specialist photo management and
marketing company of top UK news agency, The Press Association. It
offers picture buyers the best range of editorial photography covering
news, celebrities and sport from the early 1900s to the present day,
coupled with excellent customer service.
About The Associated Press
AP, founded in 1848 and headquartered in New York, is the world's
oldest and largest news-gathering organization, providing print news,
photos, graphics, audio and video content to more than 15,000 news
outlets with a daily reach of more than 1 billion people around the
world. Its multimedia services are distributed by satellite and the
Internet to more than 120 nations. For more information, visit
www.ap.org.
About the Photo Syndication Industry
In today's technological world, images have retained their power to
communicate and create an impact. Around the world, image libraries
provide the best in photography to publications, advertisers,
marketers, and many others. EMPICS, the Press Association and
Associated Press are amongst the leaders in providing news, celebrity
and sport photography, and rank alongside companies such as Getty
Images, Reuters and Corbis in delivering both news and archive images.
