GeorgeR

Yahoo Partners with Getty Images: Strategic Shift for Image Search?

I see some potential significant problems in this new partnership which may dwarf its promise. Intellectual Property problems. Whereas Getty has many years of experience in protecting the IP rights of its photographers and illustrators, I have not seen any of that committment from the major image search companies, that are led by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

In fact, one could convincingly argue that these three companies are the largest contributors ("facilitators") of copyright infringement activity on this planet. Professional photographers and graphic artists will revolt against this alliance in a hearbeat if stolen imagery starts to compete with their stream of income.

Beware Getty. Online advertising revenues are not the solution to your myriad of problems these days.

George P. Riddick, III
Chairman/CEO
Imageline, Inc.

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