Shutterstock is teaming up with rights and clearance agency Greenlight to make it easier for creators to license images and video content.
The new rights clearance agreement enables Shutterstock customers including ad agencies, brands and creatives to uses images and video that would otherwise only be available for editorial purposes. Greenlight secures permissions to use celebrities, sports, science and literature talents, historical icons, trademarks, copyrights, landmarks, locations, and any other IP for brand and advertising campaigns. The company represents the rights for Albert Einstein, Steve McQueen, Whitney Houston, Sophia Loren, Thomas Edison and more.
"We are thrilled to be working with an industry leader in this space to bring preferential rights clearance services to our customers," said Donna Granato, general manager of editorial at Shutterstock, in a statement. "The exclusive relationships that Greenlight has with some of the most recognized and respected icons gives our customers the edge when licensing this imagery for commercial purposes. As specialists, Greenlight can help get most editorial images in the Shutterstock collection licensed for our clients' commercial needs, such as branded campaigns and product launches."
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"Clearing and licensing third party rights for commercial use can be a daunting task," said Tamra Knepfer, senior vice president at Greenlight, in a statement. "Some people may be hesitant to use the best content simply due to tight timelines and potential legal complexities. However, with Greenlight's experience and expertise, we make it easy and simplify the process, opening up limitless new opportunities for commercial uses of Shutterstock's image and video libraries. With this partnership, Shutterstock clients will be able to easily explore clearance and licensing options, not just across the portfolio of icons Greenlight represents, but for any third-party rights."
Shutterstock is adding new partnerships and features to its service as the company is facing increased competition in the stock footage market. Most recently, Vimeo opened its own stock footage marketplace.