No need here to recount the former glory of Sygma.  Participants in the photojournalism aspect of the industry have known for years that Sygma existed in name only.  Many trace the commencement of the demise to the acquisition of Sygma by Corbis.

We note in the previous Act 1, the passing/closing/demise of Sygma as described by Corbis.  Over the last dozen years or so there have been numerous court cases in America and France regarding missing imagery (obliquely referenced by the Corbis statement) including at least one which had nothing whatever to do with Sygma and everything to do with Corbis – Chris Usher v. Corbis, 12,000 images unaccounted for and Corbis held negligent.  Untold hundreds of thousands of analogue images remain missing and more than one court has held that Corbis systems for tracking imagery “were wholly inadequate”.  The Corbis obituary refers to some sort of winding down of the Sygma operation, which presumably includes its vast French archives.

So the following questions are begged: Will any of the missing images “now” be found and returned to their rightful owners?  Will Corbis finally scour the drawers and fully, finally and accurately account for the millions of images in Sygma’s possession, custody and control?  Will images belonging to long dead shooters be returned to their respective estates or heirs?  What will happen to the images in Corbis’ possession created and owned by those who ceased long ago being Corbis and/or Sygma contributors?  What if any system will be in place to track down the identity of creators whose names (but not addresses) routinely appeared on slide mounts?

Sygma was acquired by Corbis, which has run that operation for well over a decade.  The Corbis statement seems to lay all blame on Sygma and its former employees without ever accepting responsibility for the manner in which Corbis acquired Sygma, tracked (or not) its images and licensed out “Sygma” imagery.  One is intentionally left wondering whether Corbis accepts any responsibility for the demise of Sygma.  The answer is contained in the Corbis statement.

One final note – Corbis now openly admits to Sygma’s “lax” inventory procedures.  It fails to advise that such fact now openly admitted was hotly contested and vehemently denied by Corbis in several litigations brought in (at least) the Federal and State courts of New York.  Perhaps if Corbis had admitted to such  “lax procedures” or as two judges determined the “wholly inadequate tracking” of images, it would not have had to have spent the millions of dollars in legal fees it bemoans in its statement.  The announcement of this “liquidation” comes on the heals of an adverse decisions (discussed elsewhere on this blog) concerning Corbis’ flawed system of mass copyright registrations and a decision in the French Courts finding Corbis culpable for missing imagery.  We do not know whether this liquidation is linked to the sizable Aubert judgment or not.

Do not rely on our interpretations of events.  Read the court decisions and statements on your own.  Employ logic when deciding which stock agency if any to place your work with.