SEATTLE, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- SnapVillage, empowered by Corbis, today announced the beta opening of a fresh, interactive and innovative online marketplace for user-generated photography at http://www.snapvillage.com/. The new website has no membership fees and is now accepting submissions from photographers anywhere in the world and offering image licensing in the United States.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070625/NYM015 )

Built from the ground-up after an extensive review and analysis of existing microstock sites and the rapidly evolving Web 2.0 and user-generated environments, the beta opening of SnapVillage introduces innovative advances in the submission, pricing, searching and purchasing of royalty-free (RF) photography that can be bought once and used almost anywhere for any duration.

"SnapVillage is a major step forward for microstock with fresh, thoughtfully designed innovations that simplify and improve the experience of licensing low-cost, user-generated, royalty-free photography via the Internet," said Gary Shenk, incoming Chief Executive Officer, Corbis. "We're excited about also using SnapVillage as a farm club to find great photographers who can sell their photographs on Corbis."

Aside from providing contact and PayPal information, the website does not require any application or approval processes for photographers or any pre-pay obligations of buyers. While in beta, SnapVillage will be actively listening and incorporating customer feedback and introducing enhancements to the website on a continuous basis over the coming months.

Picture Perfect Advancements Help Photographers Maximize Their Income SnapVillage introduces a revolutionary pricing model that gives pricing flexibility and control to photographers across a broader range of prices than other microstock websites, as well as streamlined submission and the opportunity for their photography to be upgraded to Corbis.

-- Pricing That Empowers Photographers: SnapVillage's unique pricing structure gives photographers greater control and flexibility in managing and maximizing their photography and income. The SnapVillage 'Pick Your Own Price' model gives photographers the ability to set image price levels at five price points of $1, $5, $10, $25 and $50. Photographers are able to change prices on their pictures at any time. SnapVillage does not have any type of exclusivity agreements and pays a royalty rate of 30 percent across the board for all flat price image sales, and 30 cents a download on all subscriptions sales. All photographer payments are made via PayPal. -- Access to the Premium Market: As part of the Corbis network, SnapVillage can offer its contributors something most other microstock sites can't: potential access to the premium stock photography market. SnapVillage will act as a 'farm club' as Corbis editors will be scouting SnapVillage to find great photographers who show the potential to sell their work on Corbis. -- Streamlined Image Submission: SnapVillage's open submission process invites anyone worldwide, from the hobbyist to the professional photographer, to submit images to SnapVillage's website. Images will be processed by the SnapVillage editorial team who will review the imagery before releasing them to the SnapVillage website. Images may be uploaded directly through the Internet or by mailing a DVD to SnapVillage (address available at SnapVillage.com).

SnapVillage Defines Simplicity for Creative People Looking for Affordable, Flexible Photography

SnapVillage is designed to be simple enough for anyone to use, from the seasoned design professional to the novice school newsletter editor. SnapVillage has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, simple pricing and payment and rich user-interactivity that leverages the community to identify the freshest imagery.

-- Straightforward Pricing and Payment: SnapVillage makes purchasing images simple and easy. Photographs can either be licensed individually or via a subscription. Individual images are available at $1, $5, $10, $25 and $50, and there is the same flat price for all file sizes {Small (~3mb), Medium (~6-8mb) and Large (more than 10mb)}. In addition, SnapVillage offers a subscription at a cost of $199 for 30 days with a maximum of 750 downloads. All payments are conducted via credit card without cumbersome credit packs, tokens or other complicated pricing schemes that require buyers to make upfront commitments. A small selection of free content will always be available on SnapVillage to allow users to experiment with the website. -- Simple, Superior Customer Experience: SnapVillage has a simple, clean, professional website that is designed to be more interesting and easier to use. SnapVillage has put an emphasis on making the website intuitive for all types of creative buyers, so that people with all levels of experience will feel comfortable using it. -- Snappyness Score Uncovers Fun, Fresh Imagery: SnapVillage offers fun and useful interactivity features such as community image tagging, saving pictures as favorites, commenting on images and sharing images with others that allow users to communicate with each other and with the website in multiple ways, thereby enhancing the experience of the entire community. Every image in the SnapVillage catalog has a living, breathing "Snappyness" score based on a sophisticated and proprietary algorithm. "Snappyness" is a dynamic rating that is driven by multiple measures of a picture's popularity, including the number of times it has been viewed, downloaded, favorited, commented upon, shared and purchased. The Snappyness rating ensures that SnapVillage searches yield the freshest, best images.

"With SnapVillage, we are trying to break out of the mold of the existing microstock websites," said Adam Brotman, Vice President, Networks, Corbis, who has overseen the creation of SnapVillage. "We are combining the best features of consumer photo-sharing sites with an innovative online marketplace approach and the stock agency expertise of Corbis to create a distinctly better place to buy and sell affordable photography. SnapVillage is a fresh microstock marketplace that we hope will be attractive to photographers while at the same time providing a friendly, professional way for creative people to find the right photography to get the job done."

About SnapVillage

SnapVillage, empowered by Corbis, combines the best features of consumer photo-sharing websites with an online marketplace to create a distinctly better place to buy and sell affordable royalty-free photography. SnapVillage is a fresh approach to microstock with a clean, intuitive website, straightforward pricing and purchasing as well as innovative interactivity features that generate its proprietary "Snappyness" picture ratings. SnapVillage features the revolutionary Pick Your Own Price model that gives photographers control and flexibility so they can maximize their income. To join the growing community at SnapVillage.com or bring fresh ideas to creative projects, go to http://www.snapvillage.com/.

For more information, press only: Scott Baldwin Weber Shandwick for SnapVillage +1.212.445.8107 sbaldwin@webershandwick.com Dan Perlet Director, Communications Corbis +1.212.375.7355 dan.perlet@corbis.com

CONTACT: Scott Baldwin of Weber Shandwick, +1-212-445-8107, or
sbaldwin@webershandwick.com, or Dan Perlet, Director, Communications, Corbis,
+1-212-375-7355, or dan.perlet@corbis.com, both for SnapVillage

Web site: http://www.snapvillage.com/