Corbis Acquires Dead Celebrities

Corbis a leading stock photography company has just acquired some of the most popular dead people. Well not the actual bodies but their images. Roger Richman Agency has been selling celebrity photos like these for 27 years.

Recently Corbis acquired a small stock photography company called Roger Richman Agency they specialize in dead celebrities. The Roger Richman Agency is one of many purchases by the big two stock agencies, the other of course is Getty Images.

I think it is great that a small niche agency like this gets purchased. The Roger Richman agency started over 27 years ago. They have acquired pictures of Elvis Presley, Mae West the Marx Brothers, Wright Brothers and Isaac Asimov. In a quote from Roger Richman the founder and manager he said "Together, Corbis and The Roger Richman Agency can provide all of the tools that our clients need to fulfill their creative vision," "Adding our legendary personalities to Corbis' existing services offers greater opportunity for companies around the world to use the power of classic personalities to impart their message to a variety of sectors."

I suspect that Corbis and Getty will only continue to shrink the stock photography market by either buying agencies up or pushing them out. Some may consider this a monopoly like tactic but that is against the law and a company owned by Bill Gates would never try to break the law now would they?

What do you think? Are all these purchases of smaller agencies a good thing for the stock industry?

Here is the full press release from Corbis

Corbis Acquires Roger Richman Agency
Acquisition adds representation of iconic personalities from Albert Einstein to Steve McQueen to Corbis' visual solution

SEATTLE. April 6, 2005. Corbis (www.corbis.com), a leading provider of complete visual solutions, today announced the acquisition of The Roger Richman Agency, one of the world's best-known celebrity representation agencies, making iconic personalities available for use through Corbis. The addition of The Roger Richman Agency advances Corbis' strategy of offering complete visual solutions of existing imagery, rights services, and assignment and representation.
"The broad appeal of legendary personalities such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Steve McQueen offers an inspiring way for creatives around the world to tell their stories," said Steve Davis, president & CEO, Corbis. "The addition of The Roger Richman Agency furthers our ability to provide our clients with not only images of these legends, but seamless services to clear the rights quickly and easily."

Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, The Roger Richman Agency represents more than 50 of the world's most-recognized personalities, licensed daily to corporations, advertising agencies, and other companies for merchandising and licensing projects. Personalities range from Hollywood legends such as Mae West and The Marx Brothers to well-known innovators including the Wright Brothers and Isaac Asimov.

"Together, Corbis and The Roger Richman Agency can provide all of the tools that our clients need to fulfill their creative vision," said Roger Richman, president, The Roger Richman Agency. "Adding our legendary personalities to Corbis' existing services offers greater opportunity for companies around the world to use the power of classic personalities to impart their message to a variety of sectors."

Corbis launched its rights representation service with the earlier announcement of partnerships with the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Marvel Enterprises, Inc. In 2005, Corbis will integrate The Roger Richman Agency into its website, global sales organization, and marketing programs, offering comprehensive access to the full range of Corbis and Richman Agency imagery and services. Roger Richman, President, will remain a consultant to assist Corbis in the integration of operations and further development of its rights representation services.

ABOUT CORBIS
Corbis provides complete visual solutions used every day by publishers, advertising and design agencies, filmmakers, and other creative professionals to tell their stories with impact that goes beyond words. Our image licensing, assignment & representation, and rights services enable clients around the world to differentiate brands, sell products and services, support news stories, and entertain audiences.
Corbis is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Montreal, London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Milan, Amsterdam, Brussels, Warsaw, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Tokyo.

ABOUT THE ROGER RICHMAN AGENCY
The Roger Richman Agency, Inc. is the preeminent celebrity licensing and marketing agency, protecting and promoting world-renowned entertainment and historical personalities. Located in Beverly Hills, California, the agency has operated for 27 years and is headed by Roger Richman who pioneered celebrity rights legislation.

More details may be found at talks.blog.com

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