EXCLUSIVITY

[Jimjwill]

I have some shots which I have posted exclusive to Alamy.  If I posted them on a hobbyist photo sharing site saying they are for sale exclusively from Alamy, are they still exclusive?

 

[Phil Preston]

Alamy have produced a blog about exclusivity, so suggest you check that out. My understanding is that images marked as exclusive to Alamy should not be available for purchase from another stock agency, but they can be available for purchase from Print On Demand (POD) sites and the photographers personal website if they have one. I'm not clear exactly what you mean by a 'hobbyist photo sharing site', but by 'photo sharing', if your images are available to others for commercial use on the hobbyist site (other than through purchase directly from Alamy), you might (???) be breaking Alamys definition of exclusivity. If you still have doubts after reading the relevant Alamy blog, you could always contact contributor relations and ask them directly.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Phil Preston
Clarification.

[Guest]

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Edited September 7, 2019 by Guest

[Phil Preston]

11 minutes ago, Jan Brown said:

I can't see that they'd still be exclusive. There are ways and means, I daresay, of downloading your photos from that site (Fl...r?) which circumvents the need to pay.

 

I think the main point is that images should not be available for 'purchase' from another website/stock agency, apart from circumstances I mentioned above. Theft, or copyright violation of images is another matter.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Phil Preston

[Guest]

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Edited September 7, 2019 by Guest

[Phil Preston]

2 minutes ago, Jan Brown said:

Yes, but making them available elsewhere online undermines their value as an exclusive image on Alamy.

I know what you mean, but Alamy already indicate that being on another website by itself, does not contravene their exclusivity requirement. 

[Guest]

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Edited September 7, 2019 by Guest

[Niels Quist]

-- and you cannot let Alamy pursue illegal uses.

[Phil Preston]

10 minutes ago, Jan Brown said:

Are you sure about that? It seems to directly contradict exclusivity, at least if you're talking about the same image. Maybe if you're sharing photos that aren't on Alamy, but not the same ones, surely?

 

Please read the Alamy blog post on this issue.

[spacecadet]

On a strict reading of the contract I'm with Jan. s28 refers to an image being exclusive unless it's available "via any third party licensing, sales or (where the Image is not supplied
by Alamy) distribution channel, including without limitation another stock agency or image site but excluding the Contributor’s personal website and print sales,another stock agency or image site"

So offering an image via a sharing site that offered a CC, or whatever, licence, even free, would make it non-exclusive.

[Guest]

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Edited September 7, 2019 by Guest

[spacecadet]

15 minutes ago, Phil Preston said:

 

Please read the Alamy blog post on this issue.

I searched the blog and couldn't find anything in particular- could you link it?

[Phil Preston]

7 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

I searched the blog and couldn't find anything in particular- could you link it?

Mark,  I can't find it myself now! It was produced around the time when commission rate was reduced from 60 to 50%, to clarify what Alamy meant by exclusivity. Think its also been referred to in the forum on previous occasions. Generally, I think your post above is a good summary as far as I can recall. 

[meanderingemu]

https://www.alamy.com/contributor/how-to-sell-images/understanding-stock-image-licensing/?section=6&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=CHPs

 

Item 6 has some info

[MDM]

I would not think that posting to a photo sharing site would be a problem as long as they are not made available for sale by the OP or anyone else. I would suggest posting only low res versions though and with a small watermark copyright notice at least. One question I had when Alamy produced the new contract was whether exclusivity ruled out posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram, particularly as the terms of these allow them to uses or sub-license any images posted. When James Allsworth came to our meeting in Cambridge earlier this year, he assured us that there was no problem posting on either Facebook or Instagram. I think he clarified this in the forum as well but I have no idea where that was exactly. I think Instagram could be considered to be a photo sharing site, albeit a potentially very commercial one. 

[BidC]

1 hour ago, MDM said:

I would not think that posting to a photo sharing site would be a problem as long as they are not made available for sale by the OP or anyone else. I would suggest posting only low res versions though and with a small watermark copyright notice at least. One question I had when Alamy produced the new contract was whether exclusivity ruled out posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram, particularly as the terms of these allow them to uses or sub-license any images posted. When James Allsworth came to our meeting in Cambridge earlier this year, he assured us that there was no problem posting on either Facebook or Instagram. I think he clarified this in the forum as well but I have no idea where that was exactly. I think Instagram could be considered to be a photo sharing site, albeit a potentially very commercial one. 

 

When sharing on social media, is it advised to do so by having the Alamy logo embedded ? 

[meanderingemu]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

I would not think that posting to a photo sharing site would be a problem as long as they are not made available for sale by the OP or anyone else. I would suggest posting only low res versions though and with a small watermark copyright notice at least. One question I had when Alamy produced the new contract was whether exclusivity ruled out posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram, particularly as the terms of these allow them to uses or sub-license any images posted. When James Allsworth came to our meeting in Cambridge earlier this year, he assured us that there was no problem posting on either Facebook or Instagram. I think he clarified this in the forum as well but I have no idea where that was exactly. I think Instagram could be considered to be a photo sharing site, albeit a potentially very commercial one. 

guidelines are clear on those 2

 

 

Facebook and Instagram

You can upload exclusive images to Facebook and Instagram.

[Klinger]

Along the same lines:

 

" However, images that are from the same shoot, but shot from a different angle or the model is posing differently, is considered a different image and can be marked as exclusive if that particular shot is not available elsewhere. "

 

Not a crop, shot from a different angle, and POV, is not the same and I can mark it Exclusive? But it is the same subject at the same event.

 

I'm not interested in balancing on a fine line. If the answer is no, then I won't mark them exclusive. Easy enough to do nothing.