Getty acquires user-contributed photo firm

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - Getty Images Inc. (GYI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has acquired Scoopt, the Scottish Web-based service that markets and sells photographs and videos captured by the public, Getty said on Monday.

Getty, the world's largest provider of editorial and stock photography, said Scoopt's imagery from news, sport and entertainment that met its editorial standards would soon be released through its service to a worldwide audience.

"New technology has made it easier to capture and distribute imagery, leading to citizen photojournalism that is increasingly relevant to the news cycle," said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and CEO of Getty Images.

"While this genre will never replace the award-winning photojournalism for which we're known, it's a highly complementary offering that enables us to meet the evolving imagery needs of a broad customer base."

User-contributed photography has exploded in popularity over the last couple of years due to the huge growth in camera phone sales and digital cameras.

Many of the early images of the July 7, 2005 London bomb attacks used in the newspapers and on the television were taken by commuters with mobile phones.

Getty said under the deal, it would also invest in technology upgrades and other enhancements to the Web-based service to make it more accessible to customers.

Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Getty recently agreed to buy WireImage, one of the biggest distributors of celebrity photos, and had been in talks to buy digital images provider Jupitermedia Corp. (JUPM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) but the talks broke down earlier this month.

Neither side gave a reason for the talks ending.