Phrases like “it’s not all doom and gloom” pop up often, but those who offer such encouraging analysis are typically in the top tier of the profession. While their experience is certainly real and laudable if not amazing, is it representative enough to be touted as a roadmap to a successful career? Common sense, economics, mathematics and every available source of statistical information says no.

Veer has relaunched its Web site, billing the new treatment as uncomplicated. While Veer still carries traditionally priced stills, it is certainly catering to the no-hassle customer segment with simplified licensing and prices that span the gamut—starting at $1.

Int he first wee of July, Toronto-based Mastefile acquired Norwegian microstock Crestock. Both companies announced the deal late on Friday, without disclosing financial details.

The stock-licensing industry remains in the midst of a profound change affecting image production, quality, pricing, distribution and use. Some trends, such as the downward slide of average image prices, have held for years, but there are also newer, paradigm-shifting developments. These include a middle market finally taking shape, the long-predicted microstock shakeout, the fascination with touch computing and all things Apple, a change in the overall content mix and, perhaps most importantly, an evolution of the traditional stock business model from client service-driven boutique to online content-delivery platform.

The stock-licensing industry remains in the midst of a profound change affecting image production, quality, pricing, distribution and use. Some trends, such as the downward slide of average image prices, have held for years, but there are also newer, paradigm-shifting developments. These include a middle market finally taking shape, the long-predicted microstock shakeout, the fascination with touch computing and all things Apple, a change in the overall content mix and, perhaps most importantly, an evolution of the traditional stock business model from client service-driven boutique to online content-delivery platform.

On Thursday, July 1, Toronto-based Mastefile acquired Norwegian microstock Crestock. Both companies announced the deal late on Friday, without disclosing financial details.

During his keynote speech at the Dublin gathering of CEPIC, Stockbyte founder Jerry Kennelly announced the upcoming launch of his new business Tweak. Operating on a content-as-a-service model, Tweak aims to become a major global self-service design library and change the way customers access creative content.

After the courts denied requests to join on the creators’ side of the Authors Guild et. al. v. Google, several photo and creative organizations, along with a few individual photographers and illustrators, have filed a separate class action against the search engine in April.

Barton recently took a look at the use of a microstock photo in Web sites ranging from a German consulting firm to a keyword-spamming plastic surgery domain. The photographer describes the photo as a “perfect-people perfect-world lowest-common-denominator cookie-cutter pile-them-high sell-them-cheap image” and asks: “Why would a reputable company want to be associated with those words?” There are numerous answers, and most are so mind-bogglingly simple as to make anyone wonder why stock-industry insiders are still having this meaningless debate.

As buyer budgetary pressures and competition continue to drive prices downward, stock image production companies and solo practitioners are increasingly looking to maximize their earnings by cutting out the middleman.

National Geographic Interactive has launched a paid digital product and promoted longtime director of photography David Griffin to a newly created position that oversees all of the company's digital product.

U.K. stock-image company Alamy has announced a 24/7 news feed service in May. The service launched in beta, with a full product release coming later in the year.

Getty Images has built and launched Stockphotorights.com, an educational Web site that aims to guide users through the complexities and legal issues involved in image uses. The company said that the launch responds to the findings of a new survey, which identified a lack of understanding of such issues among many image users.

Fotolia's three 2009 top sellers gathered around 10,000 downloads combined. While the photographers’ earnings are not overly impressive, the images themselves offer an interesting perspective into buyer needs.

Getty Images has entered into an agreement to purchase Rex Features. The deal also includes Los Angeles-based Berliner Photography, which merged with Rex’s North American operations in late 2008. Financial arrangements were not disclosed.

In a letter to its contributors, Corbis has disclosed it will be seeking liquidation of the Sygma business entity in France. The company acquired Sygma in 1999 and has had numerous well-publicized legal and management issues with the former agency’s photographers, staff and assets.

As the photo industry struggles with pricing and licensing structures to accommodate digital uses, such uses keep growing. Every month brings new evidence of advertising, marketing and communications budgets steadily moving in the direction of the Internet, with predictions that 2010 will see digital spending surpassing print.