Recent Stock Photo Industry Press Releases

Image Keyworder Releases ‘Suggest’ Upgrade To Boost its Controlled Vocabulary

Singapore, June 30 2008. OnAsia has announced the release of a new upgrade to its Windows-based Image Keyworder software. The new version, currently available at www.imagekeyworder.com and as a free upgrade for existing users, includes a ‘suggest’ function which will allow users to propose terms for inclusion in the program’s comprehensive controlled vocabulary.

The new functionality is designed to enhance the depth and breadth of Image Keyworder’s controlled vocabulary, which comes bundled with the software and is one of its most valuable features. Image Keyworder’s controlled vocabulary is already over 40,000 terms strong, including synonyms, alternate forms, spelling variations and singulars and plurals.

Alaska Stock Partners with National Geographic Image Collection

Anchorage, Alaska, June 26, 2008. Alaska’s premier photo agency, Alaska Stock Images, revealed the most recent progression in their strategic growth plan to further distribution channels for their stock photography via a much anticipated liaison with National Geographic Image Collection. Thousands of Alaska Stock’s images will soon appear on the Image Collection’s web site: nationalgeographicstock.com.

The National Geographic Society owns one of the most comprehensive and unique collections of photographs and original artwork in the world. The Image Collection contains more than 10 million transparencies, black-and-white prints, glass plates and pieces of original art.

iStockphoto Announces Second Annual Punctum Day Awards

100 Percent Revenue Giveaway and New Incentives for Exclusive Artists

Calgary, Alberta, June 26, 2008. Today, iStockphoto® announced the categories for its second annual Punctum Day Awards on August 19 to celebrate creative excellence. Punctum is the strong emotional reaction you have to a stunning image and August 19 was chosen because that day in 1839 was the day that Louis Daguerre first introduced the camera.

With prizes totaling $40,000, member nominations start July 2, to identify and showcase the year's best iStock files and artists in five categories.

ACAP to adopt PLUS licensing standards

Pasadena, CA, June 20, 2008. ACAP, the new, global, non-proprietary, machine-readable protocol that enables publishers to control how their online content is re-used, is to adopt semantics of the Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS). The PLUS standards simplify and facilitate the communication and management of image rights, providing for increased automation and machine readable image licenses.   

ACAP will use the PLUS License Data Format and PLUS Media Matrix standards to supplement the existing ACAP vocabulary for communicating license-related information in a machine-readable form to web crawlers and other automated devices that use web content.

KoffeePhoto adds online photo backup service

KoffeePhoto extends its photo sharing to online photo backup

Strasbourg, France, June 25, 2008. KoffeeWare today announced an extension to the KoffeePhoto photo sharing service with the introduction of KoffeePhoto Premium, an online photo backup service as a paying option.

Digital photography is great for its flexibility. But when it comes to make sure it resists time, specific measures need to be taken as digital photos are a compilation of people's life: weddings, babies, friends, parties, holidays… . Every 15 seconds a hard drive crashes, what is done to preserve photos? Advantages of online backup over CD/DVD based backup are numerous. A quick reminder, online backup is:

Keedup: Tide Turning In Favour Of Outsourced Keywording

Newmarket, Auckland, NZ, June 24, 2008. The tide is starting to turn from in-house to outsourced keywording if the recent CEPIC convention is anything to go by, says Keedup managing director Kevin Townsend.

"Between the PACA convention last October and CEPIC this month (June) there has been a noticeable change in the number of companies interested in the outsourcing message.  That same pattern was repeated in talks with a series of British photo libraries after the convention."

ITN Source signs exclusive global sales deal with Al Jazeera

London, UK, June 24, 2008. ITN Source has signed a six figure global deal with Al Jazeera giving the network access to over 800,000 hours of video content for use in its programming.  

Al Jazeera and independent production companies making programmes for the network now have unlimited access to all footage libraries represented by ITN Source including the Granada, ITN, Reuters, Channel 4 and British Pathe collections as well as a growing catalogue of HD stock footage. The licence agreement covers unlimited global transmissions on the Al Jazeera Network, their associated carriers and online outlets including Al Jazeera’s YouTube pages for a period of 5 years.

Blend Images Names James Doherty as Senior Editor

Doherty Joins Editing Team to Focus on Artist Recruitment, Content Art Direction, and Editing

Seattle, WA, June 23, 2008. Blend Images, the world’s leading multiethnic stock photography agency, today announced that James Doherty has been appointed to the position of Senior Editor. In this role, Doherty will be responsible for artist recruitment, content art direction, and editing for the Blend collection. He will be based on the East Coast and report to Sarah Fix, Creative Director at Blend Images.

Masterfile´s new magazine "Mysteries"

Duesseldorf, Germanskoje, June 23, 2008. Responding to our clients’ votes in the Mag03 contest, the new Limited Edition Masterfile magazine is called Mysteries. Taking inspiration from Oscar Wilde (the true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible), it’s a 32-page, full-colour booklet, with a selection of baroque, otherworldly images from the Masterfile collection.

In Mysteries you’ll shiver at the sight of Russell Monk’s accordion-playing ghoul, avoid eye contact with Derek Shapton’s eerily staring figure and gaze up at David Mendelsohn’s juggler on stilts, which is surely enough to conjure circus nightmares from anyone’s childhood.

PantherMedia Midstock images now directly available on the i-picturemaxx network

Munich, June 23, 2008. PantherMedia is further extending their cooperation with picturemaxx. Germany’s first midstock agency is now also offering their royalty free images at a bargained price through Germany’s most successful media marketing platform, i-picturemaxx.

With the corporation of the stock agency and photo community PantherMedia GmbH and picturemaxx AG, over 500,000 selected royalty free images of the PantherMedia archive, commercial as well as editorial, are now being offered through the media marketing platform, i-picturemaxx (former APIS network). So far those images could only be found on the picturemaxx.net web portal.