Gamma, the venerable news, celebrity and creative stock image agency, was told by a commercial court in Paris that it has until the end of this year to cut jobs and reorganize its business and finances.

This observation period will end in January 2010, at which time the court will decide if the photojournalism agency will be declared bankrupt. Gamma, which is now a subsidiary of French photo agency Eyedea Presse, appeared in court at the end of July to ask the courts for protection after losing $4.2 million in the first half of 2009...

In ongoing efforts to deter online content infringement, the Associated Press will launch the first wave of its new content-registry website in November to manage, tag and track the use of AP and member stories, photos and videos. The system, which will cover only AP text this year, will soon expand to include photos, videos and member text next year.

Although no specific technical details have been released yet about the portal, the AP has said that it is developing a digital permissions format that will be endorsed by London-based Media Standards Trust (MST), a nonprofit research and development organization...

To entice frugal web designers to use Gettyimages.com, the Seattle-based stock photo company now offers licenses for very small images not previously offered on Getty, or even microstock sites such as iStockphoto, Fotolia and Shutterstock.

These micro-images, ideal for web and mobile products, come in two sizes: 170 or 280 pixels wide. Getty expects these types of photos to be used for e-mail, websites, web ads, banners, mobile apps and sites, intranets, web applications and other digital projects...

AP Images, the photo licensing branch of the Associated Press (AP), has won a multi-year contract to secure commercial licensing rights to images of National Football League games. Getty Images had possessed the rights since 2004.

This is the second sports deal finalized by AP Images this year, a contract with the NCAA was inked in February for commercial distribution rights of championship photos. AP also owns editorial licensing rights for all sports images...

Attorneys representing California artist Shepard Fairey in his legal dispute with the Associated Press (AP) over copyright ownership of a Barack Obama presidential campaign poster image are now citing a legal defense called, the doctrine of unclean hands‚ to help negate claims of copyright infringement.

The doctrine states that parties cannot seek damages for an activity in which they partake themselves. Referencing this doctrine, Fairey's team maintains that the AP regularly uses images in stories without permission from the artist...

In addition to the 150 educational workshops offered each year by Santa Fe Photographic Workshops (santafeworkshops.com), the photographic resource center began offering individual mentorship programs in January.

After an initial orientation, students are paired with one of the 12 photography professionals affiliated with the studio, who include Nevada Wier, Arthur Meyerson, Sam Abell and Elizabeth Opalenik. The program focuses on each student's particular aspirations, whether it is to enhance technical skills, capture a personal style or generate career advancement, and includes assignments, critiques and mentor consultations...

In April, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announced plans to enter the next phase of its planned gallery expansion.

The plan, which was originally conceived in 2007, was put on hold until this past April, when the museum got the go-ahead to resume development. While construction won't begin for a few years, the museum plans to double its gallery space to 100,000 square feet.
With the expansion, SFMOMA will also begin augmenting its curatorial, conservation and library programs...

The founder and CEO of iStockphoto, Bruce Livingstone, has resigned just two years after his company merged with Getty Images.

Having served as the senior vice president of consumer markets for Getty since 2007, Livingstone wrote in a letter to the company that he is going to take time off to, spend time with [his] family‚ and figure out what to do next...