Scoopt shutdown.

I am sorry to inform you that we have decided to close the business. We will not be taking in any more imagery to Scoopt after February 6, 2009 and will close the upload application on that date. We will also stop licensing imagery through Scoopt on that date.

Our experience with Scoopt has taught us some very valuable lessons. We remain convinced that there is a demand for this kind of material as part of an editorial product, but for the moment we are choosing to focus our energies within Getty Images on our core products in news sport and entertainment.

It has been a pleasure working with Scoopt, the pictures have provided a fascinating snapshot of the circumstances in which Scoopt members find themselves and have added valuable viewpoints to the news service we provide our customers on a daily basis.

The homepage of the site will remain active until March 6, 2009 but from February 6 we will not be accepting any new imagery and so the upload path will be closed, and the galleries will be shut down, at which point all rights over the photos revert to the individual photographers.

All Scoopt content that also appears on Getty Images will initially be taken off the website and reviewed. Any Scoopt member that has photos deemed to have longer term value on Getty Images will be offered a separate contract. To be clear, initially all Scoopt content will be taken down from the Getty Images website and only reposted, once the relevant contractual relationship is in place.

If your material is selected for continued inclusion on Getty Images, you will be contacted directly.

There is a separate FAQ link on the site, so please do refer to that section for more information.