Corbis, liquidator deny 10 million of Sygma images will be destroyed (update)
The French lawyer charged with Sygma's liquidation has denied claims that more than 10 million images will be destroyed if he fails to find their original owners
Author: Olivier Laurent
28 Feb 2011 Tags: Corbis
Following French reports that claimed that more than 10 millions images, representing 25% of Sygma's entire archives, could soon be destroyed, BJP spoke with lawyer Stéphane Gorrias, who's been charged with Corbis-Sygma's liquidation.
Gorrias tells BJP that the reports are erronous and that there are currently no plans to destroy any images held in the collections.
Sygma was launched in 1973. It quickly became one of the leading photo agencies in the world, representing photographers such as Allen Tannenbaum, Les Stone and Andrew Lichtenstein. The Sygma archive also includes images from the 1950s and 60s obtained from Apis, Universal Photo, Interpress, Spitzer, Reporter Associes and other agencies.
In the 1990s it changed hands several times, but in 1999 Bill Gates acquired it through Corbis. It was not a painless acquisition. In 2001, 90 employees, including 42 photographers, were made redundant after weeks of protests and strikes. Since then, the agency has been inactive, with no new content submitted in the archives, and former Sygma photographers now known as Corbis contributors.
In 2009, Corbis created Corbis France, as well as Corbis-Sygma, a subsidiary of Corbis France. Corbis contacted more than 10,000 former Sygma contributors to gain authorisation to commercialise the collection via Corbis France. Around 850 of them have signed a new contract with Corbis, while the remaining images - "around 25% of the entire archives" according to Corbis - stayed under the Corbis-Sygma umbrella.
However, in May last year, Corbis announced that it would shut the Corbis-Sygma company."This is a very difficult decision because we've spent more than a decade investing time and money to preserve and make accessible to the world the work of Sygma photographers," said a Corbis spokeswoman at the time. "We've been forced to seek liquidation of the business because, despite our best efforts and investment of tens of millions of Euros, we have been unable to resolve issues that Corbis inherited with the Sygma acquisition."
She added: "Prior to its acquisition by Corbis, Sygma lost a relatively small number of images as a result of lax library management procedures. Some photographers have subsequently taken legal action against Sygma."
Sygma was hit with a massive €1.5m fine after it was found guilty of losing 750 images that belonged to Dominique Aubert, a French photographer. Aubert worked for Sygma from 1987 until 1995. In 2003, he asked Corbis to return his images, but found that 750 of them went missing from the 250,000 he had shot while at Sygma. Under French law, a photographer retains his rights on all of his images, including when he works for a press agency.
Finding the fine "immensely disproportionate to the revenue opportunity with the images" and given previous decisions, and other likely future lawsuits," Corbis came to the conclusion that "it is no longer possible to maintain Sygma."
In addition, Stefan Biberfeld, Sygma's director, said that the agency lost €2m in 2009, bringing the company's debt, over the past 10 years, to €73m.
Since this announcement, the agency's liquidator has tried to find the copyright holders of the images remaining in Corbis-Sygma's archives. Earlier this month, reports emerged that if unsuccessful, the images could be destroyed.
Corbis says that the reports aren't true. "As you know, Corbis last year was forced to liquidate the Sygma business entity in France, and as a result, part of the Sygma archive is now being managed by a French liquidator, and the liquidator makes the decisions on that content," says Corbis' spokesman Dan Perlet. "The liquidator is making every effort to return the images to the photographers, and the liquidator to our knowledge has no intention of destroying the images in the case that the photographers can't be found."
Meanwhile, Perlet adds, "Corbis is continuing to maintain the Sygma Access and Preservation Facility outside Paris France, preserving the 75% of the 50 million photographic elements taken by photographers who have signed a contract to be represented by Corbis Corporation. Corbis worked to sign all contributors, but some declined or couldn't be found."
He continues: "The liquidator is managing the remaining 25% of the photographic elements. These elements remain in the Sygma Access and Preservation Facility at this time, and the liquidator is working to contact all photographers to have them reclaim it by sending correspondence to photographers if possible. Corbis is continuing to preserve them in our facility until informed otherwise by the liquidator or the photographer comes and collects them. The liquidator to our knowledge has not detailed what will happen to the images if the photographer who took them can't be found, but he has not indicated any intention to destroy them, and suggestions that they will be destroyed are purely speculation and rumor."
Speaking to BJP, Perlet, however, says that Corbis could continue to preserve the remaining 25% to prevent them from being destroyed or lost. "If Corbis and the liquidator can agree terms, it's certainly something that Corbis is open to. We certainly don't want to see work destroyed," he tells BJP.
Related articles:
Corbis to shut down legendary Sygma photo agency - 24 May 2010
Old Gold - 10 June 2009
Corbis acts to save Sygma heritage - 20 May 2009
Comments
I was a Sygma photographer in 1973, at the begining of the agency, working also at the desk, and some of my photos where published at that time; I have write to Me Gorrias to know how I can recuperate my films Tri X for making and exibition.
No answer
You are not really being helpful here. This article is full of what will not happen but did you ask him what will happen to those images ?
Why not ? Isn't that the story ?
We did ask him, and right now, there are no plans beyond the fact that they intend to find all previous owners.
Of course, as we've done over the past couple of years, we'll continue to report on Sygma's situation and if needed help prevent the possible destruction of any photos held in the archives.
Right now, the lawyer is denying that the images will be destroyed.
Did he say how long they will be looking for owners, or how long will they wait before taking the next step? That'd be valuable information too.
I followed with attention the BJP recovery of my article "736 rolls of film by Gilles Caron rediscovered" issued by "La lettre de la photographie" February 21, 2011 with the itw of Maître Gorrias registered February 8.
In France, when we publish information from another reporter, we used to cite ours sources. I did it myself several times for the BJP.
I found it normal that you contact me and that you be more attentive to this complex story.
You can read more articles in English here: http://www.lalettredelaphotographie.com/search?q=puech
And all the story, with many details the result of a long report on my blog in the website www.mediapart.fr.
http://blogs.mediapart.fr/mot-cle/corbis-sygma
Best regards
Michel Pu33 6 75 66 3000
DO YOU REALLY WANT WAR?
STATION 2:
NO MERRIAGE
NO FAMILY
NO KITCHEN BULLSHIT
YORAM WOULD NEVER WANT TO KILLME
WE ALL DIE IN THIS ENDEAVOUR, GRAZIA NERI IN ITALY WAS THE FIRST TO FALL, THEN MANY FOLLOWED, DOES NOT THE WORLD REALISE THAT PHOTOGPRAHY IS IN THE HANDS OF MICROSOFT???
AKOS VARGA, ANIMAX UNGARN
WE HAVE MAJOR EVIDENCE AGAINST CORBIS.
WE SHALL FIND THE NECESSARY MEASURES TO DESTROY BILL GATES IN THIS ENDEAVOUR OF HIS. ANIMAX GMBH UNGARN HITLERJUGEND ASIA CO.LTD.
Actually many Asian billionaires are interested in the cultural heritage of Sygma of France... And they dont like billie the gates and his outdated computer company
In February, Corbis announced it would close down Sygma after it was hit with a massive €1.5m fine. Corbis had been found guilty of losing 750 images that belonged to Aubert. The French photographer had worked for Sygma from 1987 until 1995. In 2003, he found out that 750 of his images went missing from the 250,000 he had shot while at Sygma. Under French law, a photographer retains his rights on all of his images, including when he works for a press agency.
CAN YOU IMAGINE IF A LAWSUIT IS INITIATED AGAINST THE LOSS OF MILLIONS OF IMAGES? LAX LIBRARY PROCEDURES, OH COME ON??? THAT WOULD TAKE ALL OF POOR MICROSOFTS VIRTUAL ASSETS. ANIMAX GMBH UNGARN ASIA
EVEN THE STATES OF THE EUROSYSTEM, AND EVEN THOSE OUTSIDE OF IT, AND EVEN RUSSIA AND CHINA COULD TAKE PART IN A SWEET LAWSUIT OF THIS KIND AGAINST THE AMERICAN PROPAGANDA MACHINERY.
WE RECKON THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COURT IN THE HAUGE WOULD BE COMPETENT IN AN ISSUE LIKE THIS. BUT NO AMERICAN WILL STEP INTO THAT COURT. THEY ONLY LIKE TO WATCH IT ON TV.
MICROSOFT AND OTHER BIG FISH HAS RECEIVED MAJOR PUNISHMENTS (PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS) FROM THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OR THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE, SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT JURISDICTION? BUT NECESSARILY IT IS NOT "OLD" WASHINGTON, DC
THIS COULD BE THE MEDIA LAWSUIT OF THE CENTURY!!! BETWEEN MICROSOFT, THE HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION AND THEIR PARTNERS AGAINST THE EUROPEAN UNION! LETS DO IT!
ANIMAX IS A WITNESS ON THE SIDE OF THE EU MEDIA AND SYGMA!
With satanic joy in his face, the black-haired Jewish youth lurks in wait for the unsuspecting girl whom he defiles with his blood, thus stealing her from her people. With every means he tries to destroy the racial foundations of the people he has set out to subjugate. Just as he himself systematically ruins women and girls, he does not shrink back from pulling down the blood barriers for others, even on a large scale.
Who among us is a CIA agent?
In the organized mass of Marxism he has found the weapon which lets him dispense with democracy and in its stead allows him to subjugate and govern the peoples with a dictatorial and brutal fist.
He works systematically for revolutionization in a twofold sense: economic and political.
Grazia Neri was born in Milan. After working at Newsblitz photoagency, she got involved in her own photography business in 1966 by representing the new born French agency Gamma that split up a few years later and gave birth to Sygma, which she then opted to represent instead. Since then, Grazia Neri has enjoyed the trust of some of the most renowned photographers, prestigious magazines and very
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont (1864–1946). Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world.
ON YOUR SIDE
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