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SAA Reports on Infringements of Stock Images and Lost Revenues |
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Written by Betsy Reid, SAA Executive Director
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Thursday, 06 September 2007 |
The Stock Artists Alliance has released its latest white paper report,
"Infringements of Stock Images and Lost Revenues," which addresses one
of the stock industry's most serious challenges. Download the PDF at http://stockartistsalliance.org/PDF_Docs/SAA_Internet_Infringment.pdf
Along with the opportunities of the new digital age, easy online access
to millions of stock images has also made them extremely susceptible to
theft and misuse. With just a click and a drag, anyone can move a
digital file from a web site onto their desktop-without any payment to
photographers or distributors.
In addition to outright piracy, there is also the increased potential
for legitimately licensed images to be misused. Once downloaded, image
files can be easily repurposed and redistributed to other users. File
names are commonly changed and identifying metadata is stripped or
altered, making these images vulnerable to misuse-and even more
difficult to enforce copyrights.
SAA's research addresses how and why the stock photo industry is
subject to this theft. The report also describes current industry-wide
initiatives and suggests specific steps to minimize piracy of stock
images, protect our copyrights, and create new revenue opportunities
for photographers, archives and distributors.
SAA's report features detailed findings of a landmark SAA/PicScout
study that tracked for four months the online uses of 20,000 Rights
Managed images represented by market leaders Getty Images and Corbis.
SAA's report also gauges the size of the problem and develops a
ballpark estimate of the industry's uncollected revenues.
According to respected stock industry expert, Joe LaCugna, PhD, "SAA
and PicScout are to be commended and thanked for this preliminary
research into the costs of online infringements of stock images. This
study offers the most specific and actionable research into this
critical issue facing the stock industry today."
LaCugna reviewed the methods and findings and concluded that "SAA used
a simple, straight-forward method to build a compelling case that
collecting on infringing uses is a largely untapped potential revenue
stream for agencies and some photographers, and that new technologies
are making it much easier to track rights and convert infringers into
paying customers. This is rare good news all around for players in the
stock image industry. SAA also makes a strong case for even greater
vigilance and better industry collaboration, and they identify best
practices for photographers who want to earn as much as they can from
their images."
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Just before releasing this report, SAA learned of a new Getty Images'
new license product that prices images across all their collections at
$49 for web or digital use, including their highest value RM images.
This is a very troubling move which seems to devalue their RM imagery
and thus undermines efforts to collect lost revenues from web-based
infringements.
SAA's report also describes tracking and recovery efforts across the
industry and suggests that much more can still be accomplished.
Obstacles that can best be addressed include the lack of industry-wide
licensing standards, the need for more effective rights management of
all stock images (including Royalty Free), and a commitment to embed
and preserve image metadata whenever digital files are sent or received.
SAA's Executive Director Betsy Reid notes: "As an advocate for stock
photographers' interests, SAA is committed to working toward solutions
with our industry partners, and this begins with building greater
awareness around this infringement issue and for all stakeholders to do
their part in addressing this issue. We can achieve a lot through
collective efforts that we cannot achieve alone."
About SAA
SAA is the only trade association dedicated to the business interests
of stock photographers, supporting its members with substantial
information resources and ongoing advocacy initiatives. More
information about SAA is available at http://www.stockartistsalliance.org
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