The VII agency, which represents 37 photographers through its Photo, Network and Mentor divisions, has signed a deal with Corbis that will see the world's second largest stock agency become the exclusive distributor of all of VII's images.

With a very strong emphasis on photojournalism, VII's photographers have documented the U.S. invasion of Panama, the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Persian Gulf War, the drug war in Colombia and the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. "They have also documented humanitarian crises such as the tragedy in Darfur and shadowed world leaders such as UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama," says VII.

Now, the 50,000 images that form the VII collection will be distributed exclusively by Corbis. "Our new agreement with VII underscores our commitment to providing Corbis clients with exceptional photography to tell inspired stories," says Anil Ramchand, director of news, sports and entertainment at Corbis.

In an interview with BJP, Mayes says the "traditional role of a photo agency is changing; has changed, in fact. We were spending a lot of time and energy on distributing our archives, so it made sense to outsource that work to Corbis."

By doing so, VII will be able to put more resources in its other projects, says Mayes, such as the online magazine it has developed. The agency will also be spending "more time and energy on finding other sources of funding."

"For VII Photo to be valuable, it has to function as an agency and not a library," Mayes tells BJP. Asked whether the deal might undermine the brand's reputation, Mayes says that, on the contrary, the more resources it spends on photographers' project, "the stronger the brand will become. And, anyway, VII retains all features sales, so any new work will be exclusive to VII before being archived by Corbis."

Corbis adds that the photographers' latest work "will continually be added to the VII collection and syndicated on Corbis Images"

The deal will replace an existing distribution deal the agency signed with Associated Press in 2004. At the time, Gary Knight, one of VII Photo's founding member, said the agreement with Associated Press would "extend the work of VII to a new editorial market." But, says Mayes, the previous deal only covered the United States and the editorial market. "We have some regrets over ending this deal with AP, but Corbis was able to accomodate our needs. Corbis can distribute our images worldwide."

Of course, as part of the deal, Corbis will take a commission on each sale. However, Mayes says that the financial terms of the deal are confidential.

Corbis has also free-reign to distribute these images to any markets - editorial or commercial, for whatever uses. However, only images with proper image releases can be used for commercial purposes, as set out by Corbis' terms and conditions.

Excluded from the deal is The Netherlands, where VII has a long-running partnership with Hollandse Hoogte. "They are doing a lot more than just licensing our images there, they are also representing VII in other ways."

VII Photo was established in 2001, two days before the 9/11 attacks, by seven photographers - Alexandra Boulat, Ron Haviv, Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey and John Stanmeyer.

Currently, it represents Marcus Bleasdale, the estate of Alexandra Boulat, who died in 2007, Ron Haviv, Ed Kashi, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Joachim Ladefoged, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey, Franco Pagetti, Stephanie Sinclair and John Stanmeyer.

It also represents, through its Network spin-off, Lynsey Addario, Jocelyn Bain Hogg, Eric Bouvet, Andrea Bruce, Stefano De Luigi, Jessica Dimmock, Tivadar Domaniczky, Adam Ferguson, Ziyah Gafic, Ashley Gilbertson, Benedicte Kurzen, Seamus Murphy, Maciek Nabrdalik, Tomas van Houtryve, Donald Weber and Venetia Dearden.

Nine other photographers - Tanyth Berkeley, Giovanni Cocco, Agnes Dherbeys, Giulio Di Sturco, Peter DiCampo, Don McNeill Healy, Ilana Panich-Linsman, Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Erin Trieb - all of which are part of the VII Mentor Programme, are also represented by VII for a two-year period. Their images have been included in the Corbis deal.

Visit www.viiphoto.com and www.corbis.com.