Seattle-based OnRequest Images has launched a new service to provide customers with broader choices about their involvement in the image production process. Custom Assignment Services allows customers to select photographers and direct photo shoots, just as they would with regular assignment photography.

Trade associations, such as the Professional Photographers of America, American Society of Media Photographers and Stock Artists Alliance, are cautious about the new service. Representatives of the groups have expressed concern about spec assignments, fees, royalties and copyright issues.

KOAT, the ABC affiliate in Albuquerque, N.M., issued a written apology to the Rio Grande Sun for using a photograph from the weekly newspaper's web site without permission. The station, owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, also paid the paper $2,300 in legal fees incurred in pursuing the copyright infringement.

The Sun printed the apology, while its managing editor commented that the problem was all too common and that frustration had led the paper to "draw the line." The picture in question was aired in conjunction with an item about the arrest of a Pojoaque, N.M., substitute schoolteacher on drug charges.The station credited the image to the newspaper with type on the screen.

After emerging from receivership earlier this year, Ilford Imaging, based in Mobberley, England, has succeeded in restructuring its operations to maintain its presence in the marketplace. The black-and-white photographic manufacturing company, established in 1879, was able to remain in business by selling land at its Mobberley headquarters to an investment company on the basis that the plant would remain.

Ilford Photo is the trading name of Harman Technology, the company under which the new enterprise trades, and is the brand that will be used for all monochrome products...

AgfaPhoto, based in Leverkusen, Germany, has completed the first stage of insolvency proceedings, initiated in a Cologne district court in late May. Under a plan of reorganization, comparable to a Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States, AgfaPhoto has begun restructuring its operations and finances with the intention of emerging from insolvency by October or November. As part of the reorganization, staff will be reduced at the German headquarters and production facilities.

A court-appointed administrator has determined that AgfaPhoto will be a viable company, capable of succeeding in the marketplace, once it has reorganized.

Getty Images recently established two new services for its customers:a subscription-based licensing service, called Creative Express, and a Chinese-language web site with content developed for the Chinese market. Subscribers to Creative Express pay a fee for access to more than 50,000 images selected from the Photodisc and Digital Vision collections, available at gettyimages.com.

All imagery included in Creative Express is provided with modeland property releases, plus full indemnification. The service offers monthly and annual subscription options, multi-user discounts and high-resolution image upgrades, which are available...

As part of ongoing efforts to adjust to the decline in demand for consumer film and photographic paper, Eastman Kodak is taking action to streamline its worldwide manufacturing operations. In all, Kodak plans to eliminate 12,000 to 15,000 jobs by 2007, trimming its work force to around 50,000.

Consolidation at the company's plants in Windsor, Colo., and Harrow, England, have resulted in the closure of a paper manufacturing operation in the company's home town of Rochester, N.Y. Other Rochester operations that recycle polyester waste and process polyester raw material also will be combined, with some of those services being contracted to outside firms. In addition, Kodak will reduce capacity...

More than 340 photographers, arts enthusiasts, volunteers and students attended Doublexposure 2005, the ninth annual fundraiser for Youth in Focus. The event, held April 8 at Consolidated Works in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood, offered photography classes to at-risk teens and also included an auction that raised nearly $110,000 for the training of young photographers.

Photographer Hal Morey's famous image, "Grand Central Station, NYC circa 1930," garnered the highest bid at the auction, selling for $2,000. Morey's photo was supplied by the London-based Hulton Archive...

The Picture Archive Council of America (PACA) held its 12th annual meeting April 29 through May 1 in Seattle. Attendance was the highest in five years, with more than 140 attendees, including representatives from seven new stock libraries. At the event, member emeritus Jane Kinne was presented with PACA's first Lifetime Achievement Award for her more than 50 years of service to the industry.

Among the topics were the ever-changing stock photography landscape, discussed by James Alexander of Adobe; the pros and cons of digital picture editing, presented by a panel of stock agency experts; and searching for stock pictures in the digital era, discussed by a panel moderated by Debbie Campbell of Seattle-based Tip Top Creative. Breakout sessions covered subjects such as...

The international jury of the 48th Annual World Press Photo contest selected a color image by Indian photographer Arko Datta as World Press Photo of the Year 2004. The picture shows an Indian woman mourning the death of a relative who was killed in the Asian tsunami. Datta also received a cash prize of 10,000 euro and a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II camera. The winning photographs can be seen at worldpressphoto.nll.

The jury awarded prizes in 10 categories and selected one image as the World Press Photo. This year, the contest broke two records, the number of photographers and the number of photographs entered: 4,266 professional photographers from 123 countries entered their work, with a total number of 69,190 images. It was also the first time that the judging was completely digital.

The national board of the American Society of Picture Professionals recently met in New York City for a retreat hosted by national president Eileen Flanagan at the Corbis offices. The goals for the meeting were to determine who ASPP is, where it is going and how it intends to get there. By the end of the day, the board had drawn up an outline for many elements of the organization, including the magazine, the web site, membership, chapter programs and the educational program.

Along with the motto "Building Community among Image Professionals," the board worked on a vision statement that better reflected who the group has become over the years and where it sees itself in the industry...