Getty Images and AFP enter into exclusive partnership in Italy to increase breadth, depth, reach and quality in the Italian market

Effective from today, Getty Images will take over from GraziaNeri and distribute exclusively the AFP content to the magazine, publishing and corporate markets in Italy. AFP will remain the exclusive distributor of its own content as well as Getty Images North American wholly owned coverage to the newspapers market.

The strategic relationship between AFP and Getty Images was first formed in 2003, to provide customers around the world with a comprehensive editorial photography service that leveraged the complementary strengths and experience of the two companies.

Over the past few years, Getty Images has successfully grown and built its news, sports and entertainment photography business, becoming a renowned and award-winning leader in the field. Additionally, AFP has very high brand awareness in the Italian market and is a renowned and leading picture agency, which both agencies believe will contribute to a stronger and more significant prominence of AFP’s content in the Italian media.

Nick Evans-Lombe, chief operating officer, Getty Images said: “Since 2003, Getty Images has been proud to be associated with AFP. Our partnership with AFP has greatly aided us in providing an unparalleled news coverage to the world’s media and helped extend our global reach, particularly in Europe. We are now delighted to extend this partnership to Italy and our Italian customers, a key and growing market in Europe, where the demand for compelling editorial imagery from our customers is increasing. We look forward to our successful partnership continuing in the Italian market.”

Jean-Pierre Vignolle, Managing Director of AFP said: “We are very happy to state that this long-time partnership between AFP and Getty Images continue to extend and grow. The complementarity of our sales forces and methods has proved beneficial to both parties. The complementarity of our coverage in the editorial field is also a factor of mutual reinforcement and it very significantly improves our commercial offering for the benefit of our clients. We at AFP expect our partnership with Getty Images will be just as successful in Italy as in many other parts of the world.”

Earlier this year, Getty Images and AFP announced the renewal of their global agreement, which provides customers around the world with a comprehensive news photography service. The renewed contract took effect on 1st June 2009 and extends the partnership between the two companies for a further three years.

About Getty Images

Getty Images is the world’s leading creator and distributor of still imagery, footage and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. Getty Images serves business customers in more than 100 countries and is the first place creative and media professionals turn to discover purchase and manage images and other digital content. Its award-winning photographers and imagery help customers produce inspiring work which appears every day in the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, advertising campaigns, films, television programs, books and Web sites. Visit Getty Images at www.gettyimages.com to learn more about how the company is advancing the unique role of digital media in communications and business, and enabling creative ideas to come to life.

About AFP

AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from wars and conflicts to politics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,900 journalists spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions. Founded in 1835 under the name of Havas, AFP is the oldest press agency in the world.