A History of the World According to Getty Images

A short documentary about property, profits, and power, created based on archival materials sourced from the Getty Images online catalog. Many iconic images of the past century — such as the Apollo Moon landing and the fall of the Berlin Wall — are owned by Getty. These images live in our minds and are part of our collective memory. However, in most cases, we cannot access them because they are held behind Getty’s barriers (and those of many other archives). The film explores how stock photo agencies, including Getty, take control of archival images and then restrict access to them — even if these images are legally in the public domain. On one hand, the film is a historical journey through the pivotal moments of the 20th century captured on camera; on the other, it reflects on the history of archival images as commodities and their use as “intellectual property”.

Topics: picture, intellectual property, archival materials, public domain, common good, cultural heritage, history, images