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Stock Tips: News From Photo Agencies

By Daryl Lang
Publication: Photo District News
Date: Friday, June 2 2006
News from the stock photo world:

  • NBC, Variety Each Launch Entertainment Image Services

    NBC Universal, which owns a large archive of valuable entertainment images, has announced a new in-house division to handle photo distribution and licensing.

    The new service replaces NBC's current arrangement to license its images through outside agency Globe Photos. NBC's new Digital Media Distribution Group plans to launch its new online digital distribution and licensing system in July. The group will also work on digitizing the photo archive, which dates back to the days of NBC Radio in the 1940s.

    Kevin Fitzgerald, vice president, digital media distribution, will head the new service, reporting to Ray Slay, vice president, photography and new media.

    NBC's new service may help clear up the murky world of entertainment image licensing, which is often handled by a patchwork of small companies. For example, some companies license the rights to reproduce entertainment images for editorial use, but cannot offer rights clearances for commercial use of a person's likeness.

    Separately, the publishers of Variety magazine said this week they are launching a new photo service called Variety Images, which will build and license a library of entertainment photos.

    Bruce Brosnan, who has been with the company 20 years, has been named general manager for Variety Images. Variety is owned by Reed Business Information.



  • Hispanic Stock Agencies Take Off

    We have a story in the June issue of PDN magazine about several new stock agencies that specialize in Hispanic Imagery. (PDN subscribers can read it here.)

    We learned of yet another one too late to mention it in the article. Latin Visions, from co-founders César Vera and Sundeep Mahendru, is launching this summer. The company has lined up a number of image partners in Mexico.

    Like the other agencies, Latin Visions hopes to address what it says is a poor selection of Hispanic imagery offered by mainstream stock companies.

    For more, see this related story from PDN sister publication Marketing y Medios.


  • ImageState Sold Back To Founder

    Clearing up some questions about its future, U.K.-based stock agency ImageState announced in May that it has been sold to Sheldon Marshall, the company's former founder and CEO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

    Marshall is currently the chairman of Heritage Partners, which includes Heritage Images and Impact Photos. He founded ImageState in 2001 and previously was CEO of Visual Communications Group, now owned by Getty Images.

    ImageState put itself up for sale in April, spawning false rumors that it was shutting down entirely. (Related story.)


  • IStock Offers Its Customers A Getty Discount

    Here's another development of interest for those following the recent marriage between iStockPhoto and Getty Images.

    IStock, a fast-growing upstart acquired by Getty Images earlier this year, recently offered its customers a discount code good for 20 percent off stock imagery purchases at Getty.

    Since Getty bought iStock in January, there has been almost no cross-marketing between the two imagery companies. The big question has been whether low-priced iStock will lure customers away from Getty Images, the biggest player in the stock business, which sells images of higher quality but also at significantly higher prices.

    The June issue of Wired magazine addresses this very subject in a story by Jeff Howe about iStock. The story is part of a package on "Crowdsourcing," or how companies can save money by using the online labor pool of "hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers."


  • Stock Company a21 Acquires Framed Art Business

    A21 has acquired ArtSelect, an Iowa-based company that sells custom framed art online. The deal was worth $10 million in cash, stock and investments, plus an option to buy discount shares of a21 stock.

    ArtSelect is a significant acquisition for A21, which owns stock imagery companies SuperStock and Ingram Publishing. ArtSelect earned about $12 million in revenue in 2005, while A21 reported $9.6 million in revenue.

    A21 says it plans to use ArtSelect to make the most of its stock imagery properties.

    "We plan to leverage their model with our ever increasing base of over one million images from our SuperStock and Ingram subsidiaries, and especially those selections from our Fine Art and Vintage collections," said Thomas V. Butta, president of a21, in a company statement.


  • A Free Car? Yes, For $350,000 Worth Of Pictures

    Plenty of stock agencies have tried gimmicky promotions to lure art buyers, but this appears to be a new one.

    A promotion from Punchstock promises a 2006 Mini Cooper to anyone who buys $350,000 worth of image licenses by the end of October. That would be 1,000 images at $350 a pop.

    The company, which includes UpperCut Images, is also offering a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a Tiffany diamond necklace, Super Bowl tickets and other lavish prizes as part of the promotion.

    If you or someone you know manages to score the car, we want to hear about it. Reach us through the e-mail address at the end of this column.


  • More Deals, Launches And Redesigns

    A new U.K.-based stock service, Our Stock Works, is in beta testing and is set to launch in August. The company promises 50 percent commissions to photographers and faster methods of uploading images.

    Corbis announced a partnership last month to distribute Mike Watson Images, a royalty-free stock collection headquartered in London.

    Index Stock Imagery announced recently that it is now distributing historic images from the BNSF Railway archival photo collection.

    Transtock, which specializes in transportation photography, redesigned its web site last month and updated its pricing model.



Send suggestions for stock photo news to news editor Daryl Lang (dlang@pdnonline.com).

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

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