SAA has been working on behalf of Imagestate photographers through our Ombudsman program. We have confirmed the extent of the issues through a survey of SAA members who collectively have more than 10,000 images in Imagestate's collections. SAA ombudsman Les Sumner has repeatedly tried, without success, to contact Imagestate representatives and determine why contributors have received no payments, no statements, no returned images and no communication from the company. Similarly, bankruptcy administrator Kroll has not returned our messages.
Many are now worried original images will not be returned, Sumner reports. "We have gone through a long list of contacts trying to get work returned as Imagestate seems to have a revolving door employment situation," he says. "It's been impossible to get answers or action on any of these issues, and there's been no communication from them at all to explain to photographers what's going on."
All the while, Imagestate continues to conduct business, invest in marketing and promotion, and collect license fees. SAA has confirmed images from Imagestate's collections are still available for licensing through Imagestate.com, Jupiter Images, Alamy, Punchstock and Fotosearch. It seems likely Imagestate pictures are available through other outlets, too. SAA noted Imagestate conducting business at the 2007 CEPIC Congress, with a company table and a full-page ad in the event program.
While the license revenues from contributor images continue to be collected, it's been reported by Selling Stock that none of this money will ever reach contributing photographers who are classified as "unsecured creditors." Any money received will be paid to the Bank of Scotland, which is owed approximately £3.6 million, and final payment will fall far short of this debt.
It is outrageous that the artists whose images have fueled this company through its final two years have been frozen in both their ability to terminate their contracts and to retrieve their images, while they can expect no payment for continued extraction of value from their images. In the end, it seems, The Bank of Scotland gets a partial payment. The administrators get their fees. Imagestate dissolves, and its former owners, Sheldon Marshall and Heritage Partners Ltd., protected by the bankruptcy, move on. Contributors, who provide the basis for all revenues, are left empty handed, waiting for the return of their slides and hoping that long overdue royalty payments might be made.
What can be done?
This is not the only example of stock photographers being left out in the cold when a company struggles, but it is one too many.
No serious player in the stock imagery business is well served when artists fail to receive a fair share of the value they create, and their property and rights are not respected. Their images fuel industry revenues and they rely on this industry for their livelihood. They expect and deserve better.
We appeal to stock distributors who do business with Imagestate, and to their trade associations, to communicate with their contacts at the company.
If any reader has any information about the location of contributor property, or current contacts for Imagestate, Heritage Image Partners Ltd, or Kroll, please contact SAA.
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