The news crackled and spread like a barrel full of fireworks set on fire by an innocent four years old carelessly playing with stolen matches. First, via an e-mail leak, then by an official press release. Getty Images, the last bastion and great defender of rights managed, was laying its swords down, defeated. It was … Read More →
One of the foundations of photo agencies is to provide its customers with safe, secure, properly vetted visual content. In exchange for a fee, clients of photo agencies are offered images they can use in full blissful confidence. Or so you thought. In the last month, a few stories have surfaced exposing that this might … Read More →
The European Directive on Copyright is passed, and along with it, the infamous “Article 13”, now Article 17 in the latest document. However, what will it mean for photo agencies and independent photographers? … Read More →
It’s not by lack of topics ( there are many). Nor is it by lack of interest. It’s just a lack of time. Sometimes there are not enough hours in the day and if something has to be sacrificed, unfortunately, it is this blog. However, the call is sometimes too strong to ignore so here is, … Read More →
Some acquisitions have far wider implications than others. While it made perfect sense for Shutterstock to acquire a company like Rex Features in order to grab a foothold in the editorial space, it was just that. A simple acquisition of content along with established corresponding sales channels. Shutterstock recent acquisition of FlashStock, however, is vastly different. When a … Read More →
Word on the street was that if Getty sneezed, the industry was sick. But what about Shutterstock? Has it taken a dominant enough position in the marketplace to become the health barometer of stock photography? Is this week’s quarterly report, covering a less than stellar quarter along with a less optimistic forecast, a sign of a general slowdown … Read More →
At a recent DMLA panel I organized, Craig Peters, COO of Getty Images, pointed out that the vast majority of image consumption happens in places where images are not licensed. Which is true: People spend more time on various social media sites than anywhere else. Just Snapchat ( 8,796 photos shared per second), Whatsapp (8,102 Photos … Read More →
For most of the 80’s and throughout the early 2000’s, the recurring motto in the stock photo industry was “It’s the content, idiot”. Key to any growth of photo agencies and successful career of any photographer was the ability to offer great content. Rule number one was to appeal to clients and crush the competition by creating upscale, high … Read More →
The year has not been kind for the editorial space and as result, photo agencies have continued to suffer. The market continues to see decreasing space rates along with print publications shutting down. Once the kingdom of Rights managed and exclusives, it is now a vast flat plain of yearly unlimited subscriptions and royalty free. Yet, … Read More →
As the flow of news coming out of the stock photo industry major – and not so major – players keep on pushing one press release after the other, it is always good to take a step back and analyze trends. It’s been a hectic first six months of 2016 and if its any indication, … Read More →