Recent Stock Photo Industry Press Releases

Shutterstock Announces Acquisition of BigStockPhoto

Move signals Shutterstock's expansion into the credit-based stock photo market

New York, NY, September 23, 2009. Shutterstock, the world's largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced that it has acquired BigStockPhoto, a leading credit-based stock photo agency, headquartered in Davis, California. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"With the addition of BigStockPhoto, one of the leading agencies for high quality, royalty-free stock photos, Shutterstock is able to expand into the global, credit-based market," said Adam Riggs, president and CFO of Shutterstock. "This move reinforces our leadership position in the stock photo industry, as it enables us to better serve the diverse payment preferences of stock photo buyers worldwide."

Vivozoom: Online Theft Costs Photo Industry up to $10 Billion

In contrast to illegal film and music downloads, file sharing of copyrighted images goes largely unchallenged

Chicago, IL, Sept. 17, 2009. Vivozoom, the microstock business with the first and most extensive image warranty, has announced that the tacitly accepted practice of stealing stock and microstock images adds up to as much as $10 billion annually. While the entertainment industry targets the worst violators who share music and movie files online, the practice of image theft rages at the expense and embarrassment of stock and microstock customers unknowingly using unauthorized images, and of photographers whose revenues are cannibalized. This cycle is something Vivozoom is aiming to end by setting a standard for protecting both purchasers and photographers by legally defending any of its customers for damages and costs totaling up to $25,000.

Getty Images Announces Partnership with Daylife

New York, Sep. 16, 2009. Getty Images, Inc., the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content and other digital media, announced today a strategic investment in Daylife, a leading content services company. Additionally, Getty Images and Daylife signed a commercial agreement to create new "SmartMedia" products that will allow customers to more easily and effectively incorporate imagery on their websites.

Through this partnership, Getty Images SmartMedia products powered by Daylife will offer digital media and publishing solutions opportunities for substantial cost savings, audience generation and increased revenue. The first product, SmartGalleries, provides a comprehensive photo publishing toolset, including photo gallery pages and widgets, drawing from the award-winning editorial imagery from Getty Images.

iStockphoto Legally Guarantees All Image, Video and Audio Files in Five Million-Plus Collection

Industry pioneer formally protects customers from copyright, moral right, trademark and other intellectual property and rights of privacy disputes up to $250,000

Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sept. 16, 2009. Starting today, iStockphoto becomes the first micropayment royalty-free image, video and audio provider to legally guarantee all files in its collection – at no cost to the customer. iStock promises that files purchased and used in accordance with the iStock license, will not breach any trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights or rights of privacy.

The iStock Legal Guarantee provides that, if a customer receives a claim, iStock will cover the customer’s legal costs and direct damages to a combined total of $10,000. iStock customers looking for additional peace of mind can also purchase an extension of the Legal Guarantee for 100 iStock credits, increasing iStock’s coverage for legal fees and direct damages up to a combined total of $250,000.

Deutsche Telekom Launches Polylooks Online Photo Agency in UK

New Microstock Site Offers Wider Exposure for Professional Photographers and Talented Amateurs

London, September 15th, 2009. German online photo agency Polylooks, which is backed by Deutsche Telekom, has launched its service in the UK. Polylooks.co.uk enables professional and talented amateur photographers to sell their images to publishers, advertisers and creative agencies. Polylooks will provide content with a unique European flavour required by creatives and businesses operating in the UK.

Polylooks already contains more than 35,000 UK-generated images alongside its extensive European portfolio and the site is looking to expand its British photo collection, including 20,000 from its UK partner Monkey Business Images.

PantherMedia: New Microstock Subscriptions For Web And Print, No Daily Download Limit; New Corporate License

Munich, September 14th, 2009 (PR-Inside). PantherMedia, the leading and rapidly growing marketplace for royalty-free photography with over one million images and illustrations, today introduces its new image subscription plans for web- and print usage which start at $39.00 per month and offer images for as low as $0.13. PantherMedia unveils also the novel Corporate License, adapted to meet the specific needs of major enterprises.

No More Daily Download Limits!

The outstanding feature of all new microstock subscriptions of PantherMedia: in opposite to all other models which have a daily download limit and heavily restrict the freedom of the user, due to customer request the new microstock subscriptions of PantherMedia were created with no daily download limits.