Getty Images and APO Group have announced a partnership to promote integrated media solutions to clients across Africa and the Middle East.
According to the press release materials, Getty and APO,
. . . will provide integrated text video and photo solutions . . . to commercial clients across the continent . . .
Under the terms of the deal, Getty will provide a full suite of images to APO clients and APO will provide a range of media relation services and communications strategies to Getty clients.
Getty hopes to get more exposure on a continent where they admittedly don't pop and APO intends to use this partnership to continue to grow their business by working with premiere media providers.
A lot of the materials discuss sport, but, I'm curious how a private company like Getty will be involved in providing news images for news organizations that aren't as independent from the state as they typically are in the Americas and Europe. I'm concerned that images may be used by certain governments or their news organs under the cover of Getty's reputation that don't accurately reflect breaking news. I'm also hoping that APO, and, more importantly APO's African clientele, is sophisticated enough to realize that there is a significant amount of Getty's archive that isn't really Getty's copyrighted material.
I'd be really interested to hear from any photojournalists working on the ground in Africa or the Middle East, do you have any opinion on this partnership at all? Will it have any effect on the way you make images, or, make money?
Just one question: How are the photographers being compen$ated for their images being shared with APO? Or is the Getty-APO partnership a trade where the image makers get nothing?
Good question! It wasn't made clear in the materials how Getty-APO will compensate their photographers. Id' guess that if it's used by APO partners, then the photographers would get compensated somehow. But, that's a pretty big assumption on my part!!