Editing Getty Images (section)

==Acquisitions==
[[File:Photodisc website 2000.png|thumb|[[PhotoDisc]]'s online image sales website (2000)]]
[[File:Hulton archive website 2001.png|thumb|The [[Picture Post#Hulton Picture Library|Hulton Archive]] website (2001)]]

Since its formation, Getty Images has pursued an aggressive programme of [[takeover|acquisition]], buying up many privately owned agencies that had built up the stock photography industry, from small family-run firms to larger agencies. By 1999, it had acquired one of the largest agencies, Tony Stone Images; the online art seller Art.com; the sports photography agency [[Allsport]]; the market leader in the Benelux and Scandinavia: '''Word View''' (1996, from Bert Blokhuis, four offices, for undisclosed sum); journalistic specialists Liaison Agency; Newsmakers, the first digital news photo agency; Online USA, a specialist in celebrity shots; and the [[Hulton Press Library]], the former archive of the British photojournalistic magazine ''Picture Post''. The Hulton collection was sold by the [[BBC]] to Brian Deutsch in 1988, when it was renamed Hulton Deutsch. In 1996, the Hulton collection was sold on once more, this time purchased by Getty Images and renamed Hulton Getty. With the acquisition of the Hulton library, Getty Images took ownership of the rights to some 15 million photographs from British press archives dating back to the nineteenth century. Hulton Getty also included photographs from the [[Keystone View Company|Keystone Collection]], as well as images by notable photographers such as [[Bert Hardy]], [[Bill Brandt]], [[Weegee]] and [[Ernst Haas]].<ref name="hulton_archive">{{cite web
  |url=http://hultongetty.com/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=hulton&_IXSESSION_=&search-form=about.html&submit-button=search
  |title=About Hulton Archive
  |year=2001
  |publisher=Hulton Archive
  |access-date=14 August 2009
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011021133300/http://hultongetty.com/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=hulton&_IXSESSION_=&search-form=about.html&submit-button=search
  |archive-date=21 October 2001
}} (archived on the Web Archive)</ref>

Getty has branched out into stock audio, music and sound effects, and also video with the acquisition of EyeWire and Energy Film Library.<ref name="image-ethics">{{Cite book
  |last=Gross  |first=Larry P.
  |author2=Katz, John Stuart |author3=Ruby, Jay
   |title=Image ethics in the digital age
  |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]
  |year=2003
  |isbn=978-0-8166-3824-6 <!-- |access-date=2009-08-14 -->
}}</ref> Getty has partnered with other companies including [[Slidely]] for companies and advertisers to use the Getty Images video library of around 2 million videos.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/10/slidely-promo.html|title=New Promo Feature from Slidely Aims to Make Every Marketer Into a Video Creator: But Does it Succeed?|website=smallbiztrends.com|language=en-US|access-date=11 May 2017|date=6 October 2016|archive-date=6 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406043557/https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/10/slidely-promo.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2000, Getty acquired one of its main competitors, Archive Photos of New York (a division of The Image Bank), for US$183 million.<ref name="image-ethics"/> The Archive Photos library was combined with the Hulton Getty collection to form a new subsidiary, Hulton Archive. Archive Photos was formed in 1990 from the merger of Pictorial Parade (est. 1935) and Frederick Lewis Stock Photos (est. 1938), two well-established US photo agencies. Their collections included archive images from ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[Metronome magazine|Metronome]]'' and [[George Eastman House]], and works by photographers such as [[Ruth Orkin]], [[Anacleto Rapping]], Deborah Feingold, Murray Garrett, [[Nat Fein]] and [[John Filo]].<ref name="hulton_archive"/>

Further acquisitions followed, with the purchase in 2004 of image.net for US$20 million.<ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.image.net/
  |title=About image.net
  |access-date=14 May 2007
  |archive-date=22 April 2005
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050422001239/http://www.image.net/
  |url-status=live
  }}</ref> On 9 February 2006, the [[Microstock photography|microstock]] photo website [[iStockphoto]] was acquired by Getty Images for US$50 million.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.abouttheimage.com/2316/getty_acquires_istockphoto_for_50_million/author2
 |title       = Getty Images Buys iStockPhoto.com For $50 Million
 |publisher   = abouttheimage.com
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090127050720/http://abouttheimage.com/2316/getty_acquires_istockphoto_for_50_million/author2
 |archive-date = 27 January 2009
}}</ref> In 2007, Getty successfully purchased its largest competitor, MediaVast, for $207 million. The acquisition gave Getty Images control of WireImage (Entertainment, creative, and sports photography), FilmMagic (fashion and red carpet photography), and Contour Photos (portrait and studio photography). Getty Images also acquired other subsidiaries, including Master Delegates, which includes Isifa Image Service in [[Prague]] and Laura Ronchi in Italy.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://media.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=131 
 |title=Getty Images Acquires Its Italian Master Delegate, Laura Ronchi, S.p.A. 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024125728/http://media.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=131 
 |archive-date=24 October 2008 
}}</ref> In 2008, Getty purchased Redferns Music Picture Library, the music photo library built up by British jazz photographer [[David Redfern]].<ref name =telegraph>{{cite news| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11185668/David-Redfern-obituary.html| title = David Redfern obituary| date = 25 October 2014| access-date = 14 April 2018| publisher = telegraph.co.uk| archive-date = 15 April 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180415150300/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11185668/David-Redfern-obituary.html| url-status = live}}</ref>

On 23 October 2008, Getty Images announced their intention to buy [[Jupitermedia]]'s online images division, Jupiterimages, for $96 million in cash.<ref name="reuters-jupiter">{{Cite news  |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE49M50420081023  |title=Jupitermedia to sell online image unit to Getty  |date=23 October 2008  |publisher=Reuters  |access-date=14 August 2009  |first=Savio  |last=D'Souza  |archive-date=26 October 2008  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026050342/http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE49M50420081023  |url-status=live  }}</ref> The sale went ahead in February 2009; Jupiterimages (including the sites [[stock.xchng]] and [[StockXpert]]) is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Getty. Jupitermedia, now trading as [[WebMediaBrands]], continues its Internet publishing business, which they didn't sell to Getty Images.<ref name="getty-feb">{{cite web
 |url          = http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=192&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090228031805/http://company.gettyimages.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=192&isource=corporate_website_ind_press_release
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-date = 28 February 2009
 |title        = Jupitermedia Announces Completion Of Sale Of Jupiterimages To Getty Images and Change Of Jupitermedia Name to WebMediaBrands
 |date         = 23 February 2009
 |access-date   = 13 August 2009
}}</ref>

On 25 January 2016, [[Branded Entertainment Network|Corbis]] announced that it had sold its image licensing business, including the Corbis Images, Corbis Motion and Veer libraries and their associated assets, to Unity Glory, an affiliate of [[Visual China Group]]—Getty's exclusive distributor in China. Concurrently, it was announced that VCG would, after a transition period, license distribution and marketing of the Corbis library outside of China to Getty. Getty now manages Corbis's physical archives on behalf of VCG and Unity Glory.<ref name="variety-corbissold">{{cite web|title=Bill Gates' Corbis Images Sold to Visual China Group|url=https://variety.com/2016/digital/asia/bill-gates-corbis-images-sold-to-visual-china-1201687743/|website=Variety|access-date=26 January 2016|date=25 January 2016|archive-date=26 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126001537/http://variety.com/2016/digital/asia/bill-gates-corbis-images-sold-to-visual-china-1201687743/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="time-imagewar">{{cite magazine|title=The Decade-Long Image Licensing War Is Suddenly Over|url=https://time.com/4190784/image-licensing-war-is-over/|access-date=26 January 2016|magazine=Time|archive-date=29 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929071422/https://time.com/4190784/image-licensing-war-is-over/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nppa.org/news/corbis-sold-gettys-china-based-investment-group|title=Corbis Sold To Getty's China-Based Investment Group|author=Donald R. Winslow|publisher=[[National Press Photographers Association]]|access-date=5 June 2018|date=22 January 2016|archive-date=15 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715011621/https://nppa.org/news/corbis-sold-gettys-china-based-investment-group|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2021, Getty Images acquired [[Unsplash]], a free-to-use stock photography website, for an undisclosed sum.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Simpson|first=Meagan|date=2021-03-30|title=Unsplash to be acquired by Getty Images {{!}} BetaKit|url=https://betakit.com/unsplash-to-be-acquired-by-getty-images/|access-date=2021-03-30|website=BetaKit|language=en-CA|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330165323/https://betakit.com/unsplash-to-be-acquired-by-getty-images/|url-status=live}}</ref>