chris_rabe

Interesting point - by the way, only using Bucks as a random example, as I don't have a lot of photos from there! But what you say has given me reason to question some of my use of supertags...

Which in itself can be a bit daft. Lets take for example, "buckinghamshire". I may upload quite a number of photos with that as a keyword, as it was taken there, but may be of a more specific subject in "Buckinghamshire" But the search results won't discriminate, so potentially lots of valid views given a generic search. Not sure why someone should be ranked lower because things like that can take place...

Still think Alamy should shoulder the responsibility of refunds. Certainly after a month! 10 months is just ridiculous. Effectively, you can never count on how much you have made if they let this go on?

Well, maybe now that they (Alamy) are taking a bigger cut, they can pay/credit the contributors immediately, and deal with late payments and refunds themselves, and not involve the contributors in such shenanigans

The more I read these threads, and the way Alamy is licensing, the less inclined I am to put in much effort, and invest the time with other agencies. I just keep popping back in to check for any info. It just seems either 1) desperate, or 2) Like they don't know what they are doing (or, at least, not paying attention) If they want to make more money, surely they need to stop giving away their content?

I used what was available to me on Alamy to try and determine the value of listing wildlife on here, and came to the conclusion I shouldn't bother - hence why I have listed none here. Like you, wildlife is my favourite subject and the majority of my portfolio, but apart from a very few I listed on micro stupidly, they are not listed anywhere but my site. I think the one agency I have joined may be a good start, but they probably won't accept everything. I have been scouting for a 2nd place to list, before resorting to listing them on Alamy.

It just feels like you have not read much of anything I have actually typed... and what is this walk of banning? Regarding your last sentence: 1) As above, they ARE EXLUSIVE 2) I have already said above, that in the end, I will probably continue and just deal with the images not being movable for 6 months. So, truly, there is nothing else for you to reply to here.

I was simply hoping to get certain images released sooner - if I closed my account to get them off Alamy, I would sign up again, and resubmit those I am happy to leave here. There is only about 20 or so images I want to move elsewhere. Yes, my port is small. I stopped uploading once the new changes were announced, while I decided what direction I would take. As above, my original plan was to list here exclusively, but that doesn't seem wise.

I see many talk as if RF = Microstock. I have never seen it this was, but happy to be set right if I am wrong. In my mind, MS is low cost, non-exclusive. I have no problem with RF as a licensing model - but I do with the prices that a lot of places list them for - thankfully, not all agencies are the same, and some have decent prices for RF. I am now with two of them, waiting on a third. One is very boutique (and I think more geared to RM). The other is more general, but have asked a lot of questions, and their aim is to lessen their distribution sales and build a stronger exclusive library. And I have been assured they sell images at their list price. Of course, I am taking them at their word, so I have yet to see how all this turns out, but I'm willing to take that chance. I'm so glad I never submitted in earnest to any micro's.

I get your point. It may also not include distribution - which I would like to opt out of, but have to wait for April... Though, if you are logged in as a contributor, I'd be surprised if they counted your views. Maybe will just continue on. It's only a couple of dozen images, so perhaps I will just wait, even though they would likely sell better at other agencies. 6 months is long, but bearable I guess. As stated, am happy to continue with Alamy for certain content, and exclusively for the images I submit - I consider this more of a "documenting things I see and places I visit" agency, rather than anything remotely artistic. They will likely get some of my wildlife in time too, for things not accepted elsewhere - not rubbish, but not everything is going to be accepted at the places I am submitting.

No, I have not had sales, but some of my images have had no views - my stuff hasn't been up all that long. I'd happily go through normal process for those in lightboxes, or, hell, even just VIEWED, but for an image that has had no interaction?

If these images have not even been viewed, I don't see how it could inconvenience anyone. I do get (to a point) them needing to keep images for a little while, but at the same time, they should be able to know if there is any possibility of this being an issue - if an image has not appeared in search or been viewed, then chances of anybody wanting to use it are slim to none. It's not hard. Their devs could build queries against ID's of images and know whether there is possibility of use.

Cheers. Figured it would get them removed immediately. As I have not been here that long and have not yet sold anything, I dont' have much to worry about. It just strikes me as odd that Alamy (going by the response I got from support), would rather have me go through that rather than simply remove some images. Oh well.

I did contact support, but really, the answer wasn't very helpful. I did post this in other threads, but never noticed any direct reply. My original plan was to only contribute here, but after the change in rates I have decided that all eggs in one basket isn't really ideal. I will continue contributing certain types of photo to Alamy, but I am now on with two other agencies, and they will each be getting fairly different kinds of content from me for the most part. As a result, there are a few images I would like to remove from Alamy. If I go the normal route, then I cannot get them removed before 6 months (though only visible 90 days after delete) So I was wondering, if I did not agree to the new terms, would my images be tied in for the same 6 months/90 days? Or would they need to remove my content at the end of existing contract? Which I understand to be next month? I'd prefer not to go down the route of ending contract and signing on again, but might consider it

I think I'll be going down this route - cancel due to contract change, but then re-applying. As Alamy was going to be my singular place for listing, that is no longer the case, and I have some images on here I would now rather list on other Agencies. Thankfully nothing of mine has sold on here, and I don't want the stuff tied up for 6 months, so this seems like my get out option. I do have content that will be strictly for Alamy, but when I joined/started uploading again, I didn't realise a lot of their sale prices were little better than Microstock these days. When I go on to their site, and look at the listed sale price for something like PU, it's £10, so not sure why so many are seeing pennies for sales... is it that Alamy is simply competing on price with MS? My main aim was to be non-exclusive anywhere, and sell through my own site, but if I'm honest with myself, no matter how good I get at SEO, I just won't have the market for it to possibly earn for me. I will keep my own site almost strictly for print sales, and keep some content exclusive to myself.