inkbluesky

In case you didn’t know among Microsoft’s extensive business holdings they also own the stock photo company Corbis. I can’t say that they are the absolute best in photo stock considering the incredible offerings of companies like Comstock and smaller niche players like Brand X and Rubber Ball, but the artistic quality of Corbis stock catalogue is top tier - I own four of their CDs. What was news to me was that Corbis owns some of the most important and well known photographs in the world, A Photo Trove, a Mounting Challenge

In some sense, the iconic photograph of Rosa Parks recreating her quiet act of rebellion on a bus in Montgomery, Ala., belongs to every American. But as a practical matter, it belongs to Bill Gates.

Anyone wanting to use that image in a book or on a Web site must first license it from Corbis, a corporation founded and owned by Mr. Gates, who is better known for starting Microsoft. The photo is among the 11 million prints and negatives in the legendary Bettmann archive, which Corbis bought in 1995.

Since that first purchase, Corbis has spent tens of millions of dollars acquiring image collections and other companies, hired more than 1,000 people and set up two dozen offices worldwide. Although Corbis says it brings in some $250 million a year in sales, it has yet to turn a profit.

Unfortunately this NYT article will disappear into their archives in a month or so. Until then their is a nice slideshow of some of those famous images that Bill… or Corbis owns. Only Gates could afford to operate a company like this for a loss, at least temporarily. Maybe there are things that are more important then money.

western winding road

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