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Alamy dropped my balance for 57% (cutting down to charity without my knowledge). I did not get any email notice about time deadline regarding to their possible reduction of my account balance – using their contract article under 12.xx. My balance was 212 USD, before cutting it to 89USD . Am I am case for getting or giving charity. I want Alamy to refund it or use donating something like 10% not 57% cutting down by free will. Its gray zone, did any members get similar experience? Be aware.

Looks like Google have made it (slightly) harder to save images on their image search facility, which has to be a good thing. It's not going to solve the problem of image theft but every little bit helps in my view .... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43085053 Marc

Hi, I'm having a few days in France next week and should have time for shooting editorial. I'm aware that thngs aren't as 'liberal' here as they are here (many years ago, long before I was shooting stock, I was bawled at by a French woman for shooting a group of people practicing martial arts in the Jardin de Luxembourg [iIRC]), but searchng the forums here on 'France' didn't highlight any obvious info. I Googled, and got some English language sites which weren't necessarily authoritative (and the info contradicted each other), and a couple of French sites which were probably authoritative, but neither my French nor auto-translate was up to the nuances. Does anyone know of an authoritative (not speculative) English language site where I can find what is and not permissable when shooting editorial in France? TIA

Hi, I'm completely new to Alamy or selling photographs online and I just have a legal question which confuses me a bit: In addition to others, I have a lot of nice pictures that were taken from public streets but feature recognizable buildings in the background (for example from the Vegas strip. Pics that show some of the hotels in the background, day or night) Also cityscape views taken from my room that show a number of the hotels, but from a far distance. One can read the hotel logos (such as "Caesar's Palace," "Bally's" etc, but, again, it's at a distance, no real details of the hotels themselves.) Can such pictures be sold, or would I need permission from every single hotel in the shot? What if the shot shows one entire hotel (Bellagio with fountains in foreground, for example.) I could understand if it is for commercial use, such as someone using the pictures for T-shirts, mugs etc, but what if someone writes a blog or news article about Vegas and just needs a pic to accompany the story? There are plenty of street shots in newspapers, I can't imagine that the photographer would need permission from absolutely everyone and everything in the picture in such instances, they just need a nice shot of the place they are writing about. Could I specify it's for newspaper use only and still submit the picture? What if there is a movie poster or product such as a soft drink in a picture? Do I need permission from all of those companies as well, even if it's not for commercial use? Sorry if that's a dumb question, but it just confuses me, because it would seem that most bloggers/newspapers have more use for shots of hotels/landmarks/cityscapes than they do for the more artistic ones, and they have to get these shots from somewhere. If Alamy may not be the right place to sell those kinds of pictures, is there another site that does? What about sites that sell cell phone pics, are they less stringent about this? I may not be able to use Stockimo, since I don't have an I-phone. BTW, these pics would not have recognizable people in it, just wondering about the buildings. Thanks for any clarification!

The forum has seen various topics recently around the subjects of legality, accreditation, Alamy contract and changes thereto, making it clear that the buck stops with the photographer, not Alamy. As I have come to freelance photography and photojournalism from the bottom up, I have yet to join any professional body or taken out any indemnity insurance, but I am thinking I really should. My main concerns are getting legal help in the (hopefully unlikely) event of being subject to legal action and expertise and representation without having to dig deep into my empty pockets to hire a lawyer. Also getting accreditation to the occasional ticketed event would be useful (I often visit agricultural shows, amongst other events). What would the collective experience of the Alamy forum suggest. National Union of Journalists? A professional photography association? Free standing indemnity insurance? Something else? I am in the UK and only work in the UK.

hi, i am also new to alamy and i have some questions about legal issues. As all we know we can upload any image to alamy if it passes qc and we are free to choose between RM and RF or we can answer whatever we like to "is this image requires property release" question. No one cares. Ok well my question is if i choose wrong answer what will happen? For example if i choose there is no one in that image (totally mistakenly) BUT there are some people on that image whose responsibility is that or if i choose that image does not require property release BUT again it actually does what happen? There are lots of images in alamy which other agencies do not allow to upload even RM or editorial like Universal Studios interior. I could not decide what to upload because actually i dont want to be sued because i dont know a place requires property release or not. People in alamy do not care too much about this issue but it is a serious matter.

I have contributed here only a little, then had some health issues that kept me away for some time but I am slowly coming back. My question is about valid releases. Will Alamy accept other releases besides the ones on the resources page? Further, I had a very good friend (just passed away) named Rich Halperin who was an attorney, NANPA Board Member and Past President (as am I except for the attorney part). He contributed greatly to the photographer's rights issues and was emphatic that model/property releases DO NOT require an exchange of "valuable consideration" - they ARE NOT contracts, they are releases. So my question is, will Alamy accept my custom written release that does not include an exchange of "valuable consideration". Some background if interested. I rarely do planned photo shoots with professional models. I am a nature/landscape photographer and need releases only occasionally when I find someone doing something interesting or a piece of private property that would just make a nice photograph - which includes livestock and other agricultural items, especially horses. So I really don't (can't) give folks money on such a speculative shot. I have in the past occasionally offered a print of the person or property as a thank you but almost never actual cash. Interestingly, I am finishing up a unique (for me anyway) project - I have volunteered my time at a local "Equestrian Assisted Activities and Therapy" center and donated my time to do the photography for a college level text book on the subject. My only "payment" was I retained the copyright on all the images and that model/property releases would be provided. I believe there are some valuable stock images in the batch of over 6,000 images but I want to make sure I have releases that Alamy will except. All help is greatly appreciated, Bill Plunkett Longview Texas

Hello, I am new to Alamy and photography in general, so it is the first time I am trying to sell my pictures and heard that you need a release for both people and property. It is all cool, however, it gets a little tricky when... you make a picture with tens of building in it. For example, Manhattan skyline as seen from another side of the Hudson river. Does the property release rule still apply in this case? If so, how one is supposed to get a property release for tens or potentially hundreds of buildings? Any help/info is much appreciated! Thanks, Vlad

There was much debate in the other place about the legal position on photographing in public in France This article from the New York Times provides some very useful and timely observations http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/paris-city-of-rights/ km

Hi, I'm pretty new to this and want to make sure I have things right regarding the need for property releases. I have a photo of a lovely birthday cake which was purchased at the grocery store's bakery. As it was designed and created by the bakers in the store, would it require a property release to be an RF image? And in general, for photos of any prepared foods and beverages - purchased either in stores or in restaurants - do they need property releases? Thanks for your help.