The stock photography supplier, Getty Images has brought the cameraphone photo distributor, Scoopt for an undisclosed sum. Scoopt is an aggregator and distributor of photographs and videos captured by eyewitnesses who have an accidental front row seat to headline-making moments.
In the coming months, news, sport and entertainment imagery from Scoopt that meets Getty Images' stringent editorial quality standards will be released, and benefit from worldwide visibility and promotional support. Additionally, Getty Images will invest in technology upgrades and other enhancements to Scoopt in order to make the site more accessible to customers, and to better position it for future growth.
"New technology has made it easier to capture and distribute imagery, leading to citizen photojournalism that is increasingly relevant to the news cycle," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images. "While this genre will never replace the award-winning photojournalism for which we're known, it's a highly complementary offering that enables us to meet the evolving imagery needs of a broad customer base."
"User-generated content is serving a valuable role in today's communication landscape; safeguards to validate its authenticity are critical," said Hugh Pinney, director of Editorial Photography at Getty Images. "By implementing rigorous quality standards, we can deliver powerful imagery captured from a unique perspective while ensuring journalistic integrity."
Citizen photographers who submit imagery to Scoopt retain copyright while granting the agency a 12-month exclusive license that authorizes re-license to one or more publishers.
The Scoopt team will continue to operate out of the site's base in Glasgow, Scotland, servicing customers under the leadership of Getty Images' Hugh Pinney. Existing relationships with Scoopt partners and affiliates will remain in place until further notice."
Posted to the site on 13th March 2007
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