AndyMelbourne Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Aimed at photographers that participate, what is your experience of the reporting period? I dipped my toes into live news last April and it is now over 6 months since publication and nothing. The picture concerned enjoyed a large picture in one of the major broadsheets and online. Alamy are aware as they kindly emailed me the next day to let me know it had been published. I know that part of the answer is to contact MS but it leaves a bad taste that I have to do this in the first place because we should not have to do this. Or, of course, I may be being unreasonable to expect a quick turnaround, particularly as Alamy news received the set of photos within 15 minutes of the event. It's bad enough having to self report found images from general stock, but live news! I know of several images that are not yet reported that are over 3 months old, it make me wonder how many get out there that we never know about. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Spiers Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 For me, Live News Photos have been reported anything up to 6 months later. In that specific case, I didn't know about the sale until it was reported. If a sale is over 3 months since usage, then I always chase MS. I keep a spreadsheet of my known usages so that I can track usage / reporting. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 For me, Live News Photos have been reported anything up to 6 months later. In that specific case, I didn't know about the sale until it was reported. If a sale is over 3 months since usage, then I always chase MS. I keep a spreadsheet of my known usages so that I can track usage / reporting. Andrew Thanks Andrew. I may be being unreasonable. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgof Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Best case under a month, worst case (but best price by far) around 12 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 My personal view is that it's totally unreasonable to wait 6-12 months to be paid for anything. If I ordered a server from Dell and told them I wasn't going to pay for it for 6 months they'd tell me to run and jump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 My personal view is that it's totally unreasonable to wait 6-12 months to be paid for anything. If I ordered a server from Dell and told them I wasn't going to pay for it for 6 months they'd tell me to run and jump. Why not walk into the Dell warehouse, take a computer of the shelf, take it home and wait for them to send you an invoice 12 months later......perhaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Yates Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I have been waiting just under 3 months for a Live news usage in the Sun and i just don't get this buy now pay later deal. It seems to be it's more like "buy now and hope the sale gets lost and forgotten in the system so we don't have to pay for it". I wonder how many image leak out like this and both ourselves and Alamy lose out on precious sales revenue? Regards Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Scammell Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I'm still waiting for an image on Boxing Day to be reported. Contacted MS twice. Nothing. It was used online for The Telegraph. The amount of money is not the point....... it's the principle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Similar to me Craig, I'm waiting on a report of sale from the Express and the Daily Record. They've both dealt and archived the stories. It's hard enough to get the pics, but having to act like a private detective to get paid for them is not something I could get used to. I reckon the folk who sell well on normal stock don't have this issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 I have been waiting just under 3 months for a Live news usage in the Sun and i just don't get this buy now pay later deal. It seems to be it's more like "buy now and hope the sale gets lost and forgotten in the system so we don't have to pay for it". I wonder how many image leak out like this and both ourselves and Alamy lose out on precious sales revenue? Regards Craig The irony Craig is that I spotted a sale that was not live news in the Sun published 9th August and the sale came through on the 19th Sept and for a reasonable fee. You would have thought that your live news shot should be fast tracked. Should Alamy speed this live news process up it might encourage photographers to get involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olli Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 forgive me for barging in... at the danger of being off-topic, but how do you find sold images that are not showing up in your Alamy Sales? Google image search? what if they printed only etc... Also, please someone tell me what/who is 'MS'. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Todd Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I had the same as Andy 3 months ago. Live news image used in a broadsheet and was emailed by Alamy to congratulate me on the usage so they know it was used and when. It's ridiculous that we have to chase payment for usages that have been noted at the time. Self billing by the newspapers should mean no longer than 2 months before we get paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Spiers Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 This is an industry wide problem and is not restricted to Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 This is an industry wide problem and is not restricted to Alamy. That being the case Andrew, I suspect it will be harder for one company to go against it in fear of losing out to the ones who are willing to accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 forgive me for barging in... at the danger of being off-topic, but how do you find sold images that are not showing up in your Alamy Sales? Google image search? what if they printed only etc... Also, please someone tell me what/who is 'MS'. Thanks I do a daily search of the last 24 hrs on google images with alamy as the search term. Although this can turn into a psychiatric illness it is a good way of finding current news images. Also, it is worth doing a image drag of your zooms and popular images through google images. MS = Member Services. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olli Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 forgive me for barging in... at the danger of being off-topic, but how do you find sold images that are not showing up in your Alamy Sales? Google image search? what if they printed only etc... Also, please someone tell me what/who is 'MS'. Thanks I do a daily search of the last 24 hrs on google images with alamy as the search term. Although this can turn into a psychiatric illness it is a good way of finding current news images. Also, it is worth doing a image drag of your zooms and popular images through google images. MS = Member Services. Andy Thanks Andy. Seems like its down to Google to find them, providing the client is actually crediting them in the first place....! mmmh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 forgive me for barging in... at the danger of being off-topic, but how do you find sold images that are not showing up in your Alamy Sales? Google image search? what if they printed only etc... Also, please someone tell me what/who is 'MS'. Thanks I do a daily search of the last 24 hrs on google images with alamy as the search term. Although this can turn into a psychiatric illness it is a good way of finding current news images. Also, it is worth doing a image drag of your zooms and popular images through google images. MS = Member Services. Andy Thanks Andy. Seems like its down to Google to find them, providing the client is actually crediting them in the first place....! mmmh If the image was placed on a webserver somewhere, and providing that the site can be spidered by Google (most news agencies require this) then you'll find an image proving it hasn't been edited too far from the colour scheme and content. Google image search uses colour matching and other things to match an image. So if an image is purchased for online use then you can bet you'll find it, and all the other uses that didn't get paid for lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Edwards Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Self reporting by newspapers is standard across the industry and all agencies (and also direct supply). The reporting period varies wildly. I always tend to Email MS after 4 months no matter what, much as I do with my other agencies. It's just the nature of the beast... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Just had three LIveNews repros in the Guardian from early July paid this morning..... km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyMelbourne Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Just had three LIveNews repros in the Guardian from early July paid this morning..... km Thanks for your reply Keith as I appreciate you are substantially involved in live news. I have contacted MS today and reported the live news image that was in the Telegraph on the 4th April and 2 other newpaper sales that are around 4 months old, these are the ones I know about. To be fair MS have got straight back to me and are looking in to it. Thanks for all the replies. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I have a couple of known sales that should be due to pop up any day now. You feel odd because you get rather excited about seeing your images being used, but saddened because you have no idea how much they went for until a lot later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSnapper Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 LiveNews rates are higher, significantly, than normal stock.. the actual rate will depend on the publication involved , and the placement/size of the image used km Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 LiveNews rates are higher, significantly, than normal stock.. km A couple of my Live News image from April have just appeared in sales; rates definately higher than normal stock. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Scammell Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Thanks for your reply Keith as I appreciate you are substantially involved in live news. Just had three LIveNews repros in the Guardian from early July paid this morning..... km I have contacted MS today and reported the live news image that was in the Telegraph on the 4th April and 2 other newpaper sales that are around 4 months old, these are the ones I know about. To be fair MS have got straight back to me and are looking in to it. Thanks for all the replies. Andy I also reported my sale twice and MS got back to me twice. Both times they said they were 'looking into it.' Obviously they couldn't have 'looked into it' as nothing has been done. They have also received a screen grab of the usage. Don't see any point in contacting MS about it again as I'll get exactly the same 'looking into it.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I sold a news image back in Feb, it was reported in April. A much better system would be you getting to see who bought it and when, then 3-4 months later it was marked as 'paid' or 'reported'. You'd accept that it not being paid for 3 months if you could see it being registered at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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