A discussion with Corbis' Lisa Anderson, producer.

Anderson:

After we have negotiated with an image provider for the images--sometimes this is a lengthy process--and have come to an understanding over price and use, we still have to actually receive the image. We then might spend up to another two months reminding or assisting our source to send the images to use for use in the product; we try to take this potential delay into our product schedule. When we finally receive the images, they are rarely in digital form. The images come to us as black and white prints, 35mm or 4" x 5" transparencies, or in the case of some museums, paintings, or 8" x 10" transparencies. Still, we don't take the images when they arrive and start working with them immediately--even though sometimes we are anxious to do so.

After the images come in, they are formally trafficked. This is really important, especially when you are dealing with stock agencies who often include agreements that state that if you damage a slide you owe them $2,000 or more (simply by accepting the package, you've agreed to these contract conditions) or with one-of-a-kind original documents and vintage photographs that can't be replaced. Only once the photographs and slides have been logged in using bar code numbers, are the pictures allowed to come to me.

Then the producer, research assistants, and designers carefully review the material for potential use. For example, we look at groups of slides and transparencies on a light table. We edit vintage photography and unsleeved negatives wearing archival gloves. The images that we choose are assigned unique tracking numbers. Information about the source, when the images came in and in some cases when they are due to return, and contractual use restrictions are all logged into a database created for the product. The producers work closely with the intellectual property specialists on our staff who assist us in clearing all rights including underlying rights associated with any of the material--images, music, and so forth--we use in the products; they also assist us in drawing up use agreements with our sources. We follow the straight and narrow in setting up and maintaining traffic and intellectual property processes. We are very careful to follow the guidelines about use, cropping, and so on, mandated by the source of the images.