Any suggest what to do

[Stefan93]

Hi,

I decided to go exclusive on other site, I deleted all my accounts on other stock sites except Alamy, they say that I need to wait 45 days. Simple, I want to delete it now because I want to go exclusive on other site asap! 

I know about contract bla bla, that we agree with terms who say that need to wait 45 days BUT also support say that they have a right to sell image who we already sell here on site (they are still available to buyers who already bought it...something like that)  ?! is this even legal ?! I also find some post on internet that some people who delete account on Alamy after many months find their images on alamy....

I exchanged many messages with support but they still do not want to delete my account now, I need to wait 45 days... For me, this do not have any sense! We have ALL RIGHTS to OUR images and If we do not want to sell them on alamy, how can  they keep right to sell ti next 45 days ?! 

I changed all tags on every my image, so I can say that they are dead for search engine but still afraid to go exclusive on other site, I do not want to have problems later... maybe someone can tell me something more what I can do to delete my images/account asap?

Thanks in advance,
Regards,
Stefan 

[Niels Quist]

Not much I guess.

 

You have agreed to Alamy's contributor contract terms:

 

http://www.alamy.com/terms/contributor.asp#Termination

 

If you already have asked Alamy about an earlier retirement there is not much you can do.

[Stefan93]

Thanks Niels for answering. 

Yes I know that but also I know that in this case, they are selling my images without my permit. Also I am sure that support have option to delete my account now, but no, they want to follow their terms and NOT TO HEP contributors. I can say that this is bad support !! (based on my experience).

[Inchiquin]

 I know that in this case, they are selling my images without my permit.

 

 

I'm sorry, but if you have accepted their terms then you have given your permission.

 

Alan

[Betty LaRue]

Stefan, buyers may have some of your images in a light box, selected to buy when the time is right. Some of your images may have been purchased but in some cases, it takes a few months before the sales show up.

Any of your images that have been put in a light box to be purchased later won't be searched again by that buyer since he/she already searched it, so in that case, making them unsearchable only works for new shoppers. Alamy always considers pleasing the buyers, for without them, none of us would profit from our work.

So the 45 days is a fair time for sales already made to be reported, Yada, yada. You agreed to those terms, Alamy isn't trying to shaft you. Alamy is only doing business in the way outlined in the contributor contact terms which is fair to you and to Alamy's customers.

Beating your head against a stone wall will not get you satisfaction, but only get you a bloody head.

So cool your heels and wait like a gentleman until the term is up.

[Richard Tadman]

When you enter into a binding contract agreement, it is just that. You can't unilaterally change your mind for convenience anymore than Alamy could suddenly decide to stop paying you if they sold one of your images.

Compliance with a legal agreement freely entered into is not optional. It's the law of the land.

 

That apart I struggle to see what you are complaining about. You want to go exclusive with another agency - fine, but what loss or disadvantage are you suffering by complying with Alamy's terms and conditions when it could generate another sale/s for you?

 

We'd all be in a fine mess if we rode roughshod over agreements just because we changed our minds or things didn't go as we planned. Anyway - you must have a strange business model if 45 days is critical to you.

 

"Pactum Serva" = keep thy contract has been long enshrined in English Law

 

Richard

[Stefan93]

Thanks everyone to answering  and making this more clear to me. Everything you said is right. 

Yes, I give them permission when I accepted on their terms and I am aware of that. When I asked other stock sites to remove my account, they accepted immediately and delete it even in few hours, just asked the reason why I want to do that.

So "their terms are bad and Alamy is good", I mostly talking here about terms ...

Please do not understand me wrong, I do not want to hurt somebody and I do not saying that Alamy is bad, I just want to say that FOR ME no sense to wait 45 days because other stock sites remove it immediately... but at end, let say that everybody (mean on stock sites) need to do as it thinks it needs. 

"Anyway - you must have a strange business model if 45 days is critical to you." 
Richard, on other site where I want to go exclusive I have 3500+ vector images and I am very pleased with sales, on Alamy I made few sales... Do you know a feeling when you know that in next month you will make around $1000 but you could $1800 ? So exclusive program will bring me 80% more, it is very simple. Now I need to wait 45 days and every time I see sale on that site I know that it could be 80% more. Hope it make sense. 

At end, I mostly understand the situation, I will wait like gentleman until the term is up.
I just wanted to know is there something more to do except to wait. 

Thanks again for answering. 

[Jill Morgan]

I'm not sure how the 311 images you have on Alamy is affecting the 3500 vectors you have elsewhere.  You can certainly sell those exclusive.  If you have these 311 also on the other site so it keeps you from having a total exclusive portfolio, then why not remove those 311 from the other site so you can get exclusive money on the rest then add the 311 once your contract with Alamy is up.

 

Or is it to get the 80% you have to be totally exclusive, no other images elsewhere even if they aren't the same as what you have on the other site.

 

Jill

[Joseph Clemson]

 

Thanks everyone to answering  and making this more clear to me. Everything you said is right. 

 

{snip} When I asked other stock sites to remove my account, they accepted immediately and delete it even in few hours, just asked the reason why I want to do that.

{snip}

Thanks again for answering. 

 

 

Stefan, I understand you aren't able to name these other agencies which deleted your account immediately, but I do wonder about them. All the microstock agencies I have used include a period of notice in their contract termination clause which states that they may continue to licence your content, even after they have accepted your notice of termination. The period varies between 30 and 90 days, so Alamy's 45 days is about average.  If exclusivity needs to be absolute at your new outlet, I would be inclined to check with your previous agencies whether there remains a possibility (however slight) that some of your work may still be licenced through them, even though your account has been deleted.

[Stefan93]

Jill:
If I want to go total exclusive, all images need to be exclusive on that site. These 311 images sell to me very good, they have many views every day and if I delete it and again after 45 days upload it, I will lose position on search algorithm on that site... This will be gambling for me. Hope it make sense 

Joseph Clemson:
I am talking about top 5  microstock agencies, not sure where you upload it. Mostly process is very simple and you have also option to delete image immediately, no need to wait 6 month like on Alamy. Thanks for advise me to check my previous agencies, I will for sure do that. 

[AlessandraRC]

wait 45 days. And if you are of a certain age, like me, it passes really fast. A.

[Stefan93]

Hi

I do have one more question for some contributors with more experience I guess. If I go exclusive on any site, who will check me am I really exclusive, selling only on that site ? Support or buyers ? 
I asking that because I changed all tags on every image on Alamy so they are "dead" for search engine now...If answer is buyers, they can not reach to my images so it is almost same when I delete it... don't know, maybe I am wrong

Thanks in advance. 

[Betty LaRue]

Hi

I do have one more question for some contributors with more experience I guess. If I go exclusive on any site, who will check me am I really exclusive, selling only on that site ? Support or buyers ? 

I asking that because I changed all tags on every image on Alamy so they are "dead" for search engine now...If answer is buyers, they can not reach to my images so it is almost same when I delete it... don't know, maybe I am wrong

Thanks in advance.

 

Don't forget that if any of your images were put in a light box by a buyer for purchase at a later date, those images aren't "dead" to those buyers. All they have to do is go to their light box and purchase it during the 45 day waiting time.

That's one reason they can't be exclusive just yet.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but if an image has sold previously, that image can't be listed as inclusive, right?

[M.Chapman]

Hi

 

I do have one more question for some contributors with more experience I guess. If I go exclusive on any site, who will check me am I really exclusive, selling only on that site ? Support or buyers ? 

I asking that because I changed all tags on every image on Alamy so they are "dead" for search engine now...If answer is buyers, they can not reach to my images so it is almost same when I delete it... don't know, maybe I am wrong

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

Personally I would think that if the images can no longer be found on Alamy via the Alamy's search engine or by a Google search, then they are no longer being actively sold on Alamy and you'd then be able to offer them for sale exclusively* on a different agency. It would be even better if you could follow Wim's advice and add "No longer for sale" or similar into the caption, but I suspect it's too late for this, and even then there maybe potential customers who have already downloaded an image with the original caption.

 

It seems unreasonable to me to have to wait until all possibility of a sale occurring through Alamy has gone, since you'll need to wait a long time because customers may already have downloaded some of your images (for inclusion in a book for example), which may be published and the sale completed many months later. By the time Alamy finds out, the image will have been published (use first declare later).

 

*NB. Offering an image for sale via one agency at a time is not the same as offering an exclusive usage licence.

 

With respect to offering exclusive usage licences to any of your images, you may want to ask Alamy member services which images have been downloaded and exclude those, to reduce the chances of a potential conflict.

 

But I'm a photographer, not a lawyer!

[Stefan93]

Hi

Thanks for answers and tips. 

I have only 5 sales so that mean not big problem to me if some of buyers have that image (in this case, vector ) still available, in  light box. I simply can delete that 5 images on site where I want to go exclusive. 

I asked agency where I want to go exclusive, to change caption, tags, that mean like "dead" image but they said that if you have ON ANY WAY  image on other stock agency, then I can not claim that I sell exclusive on that site. I think that they just follow their terms, that in "practice", real condition is that I can go exclusive. Simple, my images are not available for buyers (because I changed tags). 

It is not late to change my tags, caption, I did not send my images to "waiting for deletion" tap so I can still edit it. 

 

[M.Chapman]

Simple, my images are not available for buyers (because I changed tags). 

 

 

Might be worth trying some Google searches to see if your Alamy images come up. Search for images with your pseudoname and/or some subject details. Not sure how quickly Google forgets earlier indexed results...