Getty Images acquires Pixsy

[Rose]

I received an email today announcing that Getty Images has acquired Pixsy (for $420 million !). It will be interesting to see what impact that has on their service...

[Mike Farley]

I suspect that the Pixsy model fits in well with Getty Images' existing business and moves it on into new areas. Getty Images is no doubt already tracking down unauthorised use of its images and obtaining payment. Through Pixsy it could also find new photographers to submit their shots to its library.

[Mike Farley]

It turns out that this was an April Fool's "joke" and Pixsy has not been acquired by Getty Images. I guess we should have paid more attention to the date of the "announcement", but WTF? Why would a company want to disconcert its user base by suggesting change is afoot and involve an unwitting major third party such as Getty? I thought that the PAGB piece about its distinctions was misguided as it cast doubt on the credibility of one of its major activities, but at least it was sufficiently absurd to alert all but the most gullible. Pixsy went to a whole new level. Get rich quick wishful thinking, maybe?

http://petapixel.com/2016/04/01/fail-pi ... etty-420m/

I note that the PetaPixel piece is also dated 1 April, so not wanting to be caught again I checked the Pixsy blog which confirms that it was all a hoax.

https://www.pixsy.com/blog/

[Rose]

How bizarre...

[Mike Farley]

How bizarre...

So when they said that they would not be able to obtain any payment on my misappropriated image, it was all just a jolly jape at my expense and I can expect a cheque in the post any day now?

[Mike Farley]

I have just received a follow up e-mail from Pixsy confirming that the Getty Images "acquisition" was just a joke. It has no apology for misleading their users but there is a link to a blog post explaining the 101 reasons why the sale did not happen. 101? Seriously? If you are like me you will find there are better things to do than read it all the way through. Posting about it on the forum, for a start.

I am sure that the team at Pixsy had a lot of fun putting the blog article together and it must be a real hoot to work there.

https://www.pixsy.com/101-reasons-getty ... ire-pixsy/

[davidc]

I received the same and thought the same, smacks hugely of a desperate attempt to grab headlines.
If I were Getty I'd be looking to sue Pixsy for putting out false information to the market.

The joke fell flat on its face.

Pixsy have now got back to me and said all bar two of my image claims are not covered under their system and the two that ARE interesting to them are in asia - where they are not working yet - and Italy where the law is such they say it's not worth bothering to try right now.

Unimpressed!

[davidb]

Pixsy have now got back to me and said all bar two of my image claims are not covered under their system and the two that ARE interesting to them are in asia - where they are not working yet - and Italy where the law is such they say it's not worth bothering to try right now.

Unimpressed!

That might explain why Getty aren't interested

[Mike Farley]

If I were Getty I'd be looking to sue Pixsy for putting out false information to the market.

The joke fell flat on its face.

I would not be surprised if words have been exchanged behind the scenes. Getty's reputation has not been affected by this, rather it is Pixsy which has ended up looking foolish. Going to court should only be a last resort if the parties involved cannot reach an agreement and I doubt it would be worth the hassle for Getty. The whole point of such jokes is to let the audience in on the fun, a point which Pixsy has entirely missed both in the original announcement and the follow up.

Pixsy have now got back to me and said all bar two of my image claims are not covered under their system and the two that ARE interesting to them are in asia - where they are not working yet - and Italy where the law is such they say it's not worth bothering to try right now.

I would have thought that there is at least one EU directive concerning copyright which Italy would be obliged to implement.

[davidc]

There are copyright laws but Pixsy just says it's not currently worth pursuing for them. My suspicion is that time+effort is not worth the payoff.