Getty scoops up Scoopt photo site
Getty Images said Monday it acquired Scoopt, a site that sells amateur photographs to the news media.
"We are now owned and operated by Getty Images, the world's leading creator and distributor of visual content," a note on the site said. "The Scoopt site and our team remain in place, but we now have the scale to better market your content to a global media audience."
The move spotlights the transformation of the traditional photo business with modern photography trends, which permit easy uploading and centralized distribution of digital photos. A year ago, Getty acquired another site, iStockPhoto, which sells stock photographs. Spy Media aims to unite photo requests with those who can fulfill them. And Yahoo runs a site called You Witness News in partnership with Reuters.
Getty said it will sell Scoopt images that meet its standards on its editorial photo site in coming months.
Scoopt, based in Scotland, was launched in 2005. It sells members' photos to the news media, splitting the proceeds 50-50 with the photographer, who agrees to give Scoopt a one-year exclusive license to sell the content.
The site said the Getty acquisition let the company "significantly expand the scope of Scoopt's sales reach." Terms of the deal weren't released.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
