LIFE is posting millions of historic pictures online, including this "American Gothic" image shot by Gordon Parks during the Great Depression.
In a new service that went public this week, millions of full-screen-resolution photos from LIFE magazine’s historic archive will be available on Google Images, the search engine company’s index of digital pictures. It’s the latest in a series of recent deals in which Google shares revenue with content providers, rather than simply indexing their information.
The archive is filled with classic shots by LIFE magazine greats such as Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks and W. Eugene Smith. Users can search or browse the archive on a typically bare-bones Google portal.
While Time Inc. retains the copyright to the images, it is taking a relaxed attitude toward photo sharing. The LIFE site on Google displays no statement about how the images can or cannot be used, and informally, the company says it will turn a blind eye to non-commercial uses.
LIFE president Andrew Blau says the company is providing the images free of charge for viewing and “personal use,” such as term papers. The archive will no doubt be a rich resource for teachers and students.
“Bloggers pasting photos into blogs are our lowest priority,” Blau said in an interview with PDN. LIFE’s first priority will be to pursue “blatant misuse,” such as unauthorized use of the images on commercial products, Blau says.
Large images appear with a translucent LIFE watermark over one corner, while small images appear with no watermark. Blau says the images are coded with Digimarc tags – invisible digital watermarks that could allow the company to track their use.
As a business, the LIFE archive is unique in pitching a professional photo archive to consumers. Most stock archives are aimed exclusively at businesses that purchase photo licenses. (Getty handles commercial licensing of the LIFE archive.)
Blau says the Google Images service will generate revenue for LIFE in two ways.
First, it will drive traffic to LIFE.com, a joint venture between Getty Images and Time Inc. Scheduled for a February launch, LIFE.com will make money from advertising and sales of photo books and prints.
Second, the images are displayed on Google next to links that allow customers to buy framed prints through the print-on-demand service QOOP.com.
Most of the LIFE archive has never been published and only about two-thirds of it has been scanned. LIFE is adding thousands of images a week as the scanning continues.
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