news.kei.com!eff!news.duke.edu!godot.cc.duq.edu!ddsw1!panix!cmcl2!usenet
From: "R. Murphy" <[log in to unmask]>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.museum-l
Subject: Continuum now Corbis
Date: 18 Feb 1995 23:47:52 GMT
Organization: New York University
Lines: 26
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: port-001.dial.net.nyu.edu
 
According to Inter@ctive Week (2/13/95, p. 29) Bill Gates' Continuum
is now called Corbis and has an archive of 300,000 digitized photos
that they plan to market for graphics and multimedia specialists.
Its publishing arm, Corbis Publishing, just released "A Passion for
Art," about the Barnes Collection, on CD-ROM.
 
They stress high quality images and are selling one-time rights only,
taking a strong stance on protecting intellectual property rights
for itself and its content partners. They hold nonexclusive digital
licenses for most of the material and five of their 100 employees are
intellectual property lawyers.
 
According to Corbis CEO Doug Rowan, fine art comprises only 10% of the
archive with the rest consisting of photos from nature, science and
technology, world travel and entertainment.
 
Images sell for $100 to $5,000 with the norm $200 to $400. Low-res
images are shipped to customers on CD-ROM for approval then
production quality images are delivered on another CD-ROM but Corbis
expects to eventually deliver them on-line or as locked high-res
files on a catalog CD-ROM.
 
Sounds like Bill owns himself the world's largest service bureau...
 
Robbin Murphy
[log in to unmask]