meanderingemu Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 10 minutes ago, jodyko said: Yes I'd like to understand this too. Is not the photographic image of someones work of art on public display unique in that it was captured by a particular photographer, camera and moment in time? If this unique image is listed with only Alamy and nowhere else is it not exclusive to Alamy? And how does one measure 1/3 of the frame as a "general" rule and what significance does that ratio have to exclusivity? Please enlighten us. ratio is nothing to exclusivity i think, if not below 1/3 it's probably not supposed to even be made available. but the issue lies deeper i think, for art that is not as someone stated two-dimensional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Just a note regarding the effort to filter out the exclusives: Alamy has all my selected pictures, other agencies have less as they edit my offer as needed. I used the Alamy .csv file as basis in Excel, using the VLOOKUP formula to check which files dont exist in a list I requested from my other agencies (copied into 2. Excel tab). And then I mailed Alamy contributor service the filtered Excel list of the exclusive ones - done next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodyko Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, meanderingemu said: but the issue lies deeper i think, for art that is not as someone stated two-dimensional. I agree but the email simply states, "images of artworks." Pretty vague. Not enough for me to change anything I think. By example: More than 1/3 but to me still exclusive to Alamy. But what about something like this? Exclusive or not? Edited December 2, 2019 by jodyko 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 53 minutes ago, meanderingemu said: are handmade protest banners and placards qualified as work of art? hmmm very good question and some of mine taken recently came into mind. This I would classify as artwork - its somebodies photo that somebody has shopped some condoms over the chimneys. In the picture the placard is 4.97Mpix out of 14.37Mpix, hence roughly 5% larger than a third of the entire frame. I could have cropped more favorably to stay within 1/3rd boundary, but have not in this case but will in future. So, should I remove the exclusivity for this picture? : On the other hand, these are clearly more than a third, but maybe not artwork, so the exclusive flag can be set? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Just now, jodyko said: I agree but the email simply states, "images of artworks." Pretty vague. Not enough for me to change anything I think. By example: More than 1/3 but to me still exclusive to Alamy. yeah same here. and to be honest the following Alamy changed to Editorial Only when they did the sweep, so i assume they are fine with it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodyko Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Just now, meanderingemu said: Alamy changed to Editorial Only when they did the sweep, so i assume they are fine with it Yes I recently changed some of mine to editorial only per Alamy guidance. The exclusivity is what confuses me. BTW I edited my previous post to include an additional example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Best would be if we get a definition of what classifies as artwork and what does not within the context of Alamys rules. As we are selling world wide should we take into account rules from the UK, generally Europe (which may differ by country..) or do we need to account for every Remotistan? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodyko Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 1 minute ago, hdh said: Best would be if we get a definition of what classifies as artwork and what does not within the context of Alamys rules. Yes. 10% is significant and I think a little more clarification is in order, particularly when contributors are being asked to demote their earnings potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 48 minutes ago, hdh said: Best would be if we get a definition of what classifies as artwork and what does not within the context of Alamys rules. As we are selling world wide should we take into account rules from the UK, generally Europe (which may differ by country..) or do we need to account for every Remotistan? yeah, i've always struggled with a vague notion of "Art". For example to a quilt maker, their work would be art, what about Alamy?. A handmade persian rug? Design on a cake? (i know i consider my favourite sushi restaurant to produce works of art 😀 ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 4 minutes ago, meanderingemu said: yeah, i've always struggled with a vague notion of "Art". For example to a quilt maker, their work would be art, what about Alamy?. A handmade persian rug? Design on a cake? (i know i consider my favourite sushi restaurant to produce works of art 😀 ) I suppose it's anything for which the creator can possibly claim copyright infringement. However, if an image is being used for editorial purposes only, it's difficult to see how this could be a possibility or a problem in most cases. But perhaps I'm missing something. I'm no expert on this kind of thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 It's a minefield. I've marked some of mine as being non exclusive, but, to be honest I've not got much of a clue a to what Alamy is on about. I guess that a blatant copy of a 2D painting or mural, and there are a number of them available and they do sell here, would be not exclusive, but, as has been pointed out, the likes of statues can be photographed from an infinite number of angles, so how can there be an exclusivity problem? Awaiting my day of judgement on this one, but not really sure that I am guilty of any crime! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 3 hours ago, meanderingemu said: thanks. this is really helpful. I think i was trying to be overly cautious. You'd better be careful. At least one other agency would consider these very close sister shots, so you could be clear for Alamy but maybe not elsewhere. TBH, I'm surprised Alamy would consider these two acceptable to have one as exclusive and one not. But they make the rules for their own site, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Alamy said: Impossible to say with 100% certainty. The question you have to ask yourself is "does my image contain artwork that takes up more than 1/3 of the total frame, by which someone else could claim copyright to?" If you're not sure, don't take the risk. Cheers Alamy So the 'artwork' rule (re Alamy-exclusivity) is about copyright? I had thought from something which was written previously that it was because you might end up with two people having largely similar photos of e.g. a public statue. Does that mean it doesn't apply if the work is out of copyright, e.g. in the UK if the artist has been dead for over 70 years? I know that flat art in the public domain cannot be marketed as 'exclusive', but I can't find such a restriction about e.g. public statues. Edited December 2, 2019 by Cryptoprocta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Chapman Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 (edited) Personally I think this is all part of the continuing squeeze on contributors. Licence fees are falling and, in this competitive market, Alamy is under intense pressure to maintain profits. Last year (around this time) they wanted to cut our commission to 40% on all images (if I recall correctly). After howls of protest they did a partial U-turn and allowed us to keep 50% on exclusive images only. It's now 12 months later, and approaching the end of Alamy's financial year again, so the "bean counters" have been looking at the financial numbers and realised that because many images are still marked as exclusive they aren't getting as much net revenue as they'd hoped. So what can they do? Ah I know, let's tighten the restrictions on "exclusive only" a bit more, they can claim it's for legal reasons.... and send a simple email (which over-states the requirement) to get more images switched to non-exclusive. For Alamy it's a win-win. More commission and less chance of legal issues with no loss (they never introduced an "exclusive only" filter for buyers). But for contributors it's lose - lose. More work to do and less commission. Or am I being over sceptical? I had previously only applied the "editorial only" and "non-exclusive flag" to 2D artwork for exactly the reasons quoted in the earlier posts, (unless there was only one obvious viewpoint). My concern is where does this end? Many buildings are unique and could be regarded as works of art from the architect. Then there's the industrial design of many products.... Are we going to have to mark those as non-exclusive in the future too? Methinks Alamy could be desperately trying to get extra net income to avoid sinking... (Oops I've gone sceptical again....) I'm now off to change the settings on my 3D artwork images too, but it sticks in the throat. My only consolation is that maybe it's helping Alamy to survive. Mark Edited December 2, 2019 by M.Chapman 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 2 hours ago, hdh said: Best would be if we get a definition of what classifies as artwork and what does not within the context of Alamys rules. As we are selling world wide should we take into account rules from the UK, generally Europe (which may differ by country..) or do we need to account for every Remotistan? You'd better make sure that for every Remotistan you're photographing in, you know their rules. In at least some contexts, a litigant can, presumably with advice, choose either the legislation of the country of the subject, the country of the agency or the country of the artist in which to pursue a claim. Some agencies seek to prevent this by stating that any conflict will be resolved under the laws of X. I have no idea how this would hold up in real life, and I don't see where Alamy has stated this, if it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 The problem with this topic is that the more you think about it and the more we discuss it, the more confusing in gets. 🥴 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 I have a lot of photos of stamps. Do they count as 'artworks'? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 15 minutes ago, David Pimborough said: I wouldn't Mark and I had exactly the same thoughts as you about this email It rang a bell about something I read the other week in that is it copyright infringement taking a photo of 3 dimensional object and the answer was it is not copyright infringement I quote " Works on public display Section 62 of the CDPA ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/section/62) provides an exception to copyright infringement in relation to the representation of certain artistic works on public display. The exception applies to buildings and sculptures, models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, if permanently situated in a public place, or in premises open to the public. The copyright in such works is not infringed by (a) making a graphic work representing it, making a photograph or film of it, or making a broadcast of a visual image of it. Nor is the copyright infringed by the issue to the public of copies, or the communication to the public, of anything whose making was, by virtue of this section, not an infringement of the copyright. That's the link I was trying to refind. Thanks. While posting that, I found it's the same in Canada, also architecture: 32.2 (1) It is not an infringement of copyright ... (b) for any person to reproduce, in a painting, drawing, engraving, photograph or cinematographic work (i) an architectural work, provided the copy is not in the nature of an architectural drawing or plan, or (ii) a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship or a cast or model of a sculpture or work of artistic craftsmanship, that is permanently situated in a public place or building; https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/page-16.html#h-1038 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angler Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 1 hour ago, M.Chapman said: Personally I think this is all part of the continuing squeeze on contributors. Licence fees are falling and, in this competitive market, Alamy is under intense pressure to maintain profits. Last year (around this time) they wanted to cut our commission to 40% on all images (if I recall correctly). After howls of protest they did a partial U-turn and allowed us to keep 50% on exclusive images only. It's now 12 months later, and approaching the end of Alamy's financial year again, so the "bean counters" have been looking at the financial numbers and realised that because many images are still marked as exclusive they aren't getting as much net revenue as they'd hoped. So what can they do? Ah I know, let's tighten the restrictions on "exclusive only" a bit more, they can claim it's for legal reasons.... and send a simple email (which over-states the requirement) to get more images switched to non-exclusive. For Alamy it's a win-win. More commission and less chance of legal issues with no loss (they never introduced an "exclusive only" filter for buyers). But for contributors it's lose - lose. More work to do and less commission. Or am I being over sceptical? I had previously only applied the "editorial only" and "non-exclusive flag" to 2D artwork for exactly the reasons quoted in the last 2 posts, (unless there was only one obvious viewpoint). My concern is where does this end? Many buildings are unique and could be regarded as works of art from the architect. Then there's the industrial design of many products.... Are we going to have to mark those as non-exclusive in the future too? Methinks Alamy could be desperately trying to get extra net income to avoid sinking... (Oops I've gone sceptical again....) I'm now off to change the settings on my 3D artwork images too, but it sticks in the throat. My only consolation is that maybe it's helping Alamy to survive. Mark Yes it is a continuing squeeze on contributors which started with the crash of 2008. I started with Alamy in 2003 when the commission was 70/30 in favour of the contributor now 50/50 for exclusivity or 40/60 for non exclusive. Despite the fact I've done pretty well with Alamy, nearly $500k in sales, this email today has had a really negative affect on any remaining motivation I have and I'm really questioning is it all worth it? The hours sat in front of this screen trying to manage 50k+ is mind numbing and I'm afraid to say it may be time to start looking elsewhere for earning potential for my archive but I'll probably wait and see how this current issue plays out. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABan Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 I have several images of The Bean (Cloud Gate) in Chicago where it probably takes up more than a third of the frame. But it's public art and I believe the city has a blanket release because photos of it are used promotionally all the time. It's pretty silly to say photos of it can't be exclusive, especially when no two photos of it are exactly alike. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said: You'd better make sure that for every Remotistan you're photographing in, you know their rules. For the sake of the topic I was more concerned about the selling process. i.e A Remotis entity buys a picture that in Remotistan is defined either illegal or has other legal consequences. Is Photographer/Alamy liable, because we sold it? After that, are we still allowed to enter Remotistan and do some awesome travel photography? Edit: Brining it back to the topic of the thread; If in Remotistan is defined that the size of art in a picture that is larger than 1Mpix, it requires a license of the artist, do we have to mark as non-exclusive? Edited December 3, 2019 by hdh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 7 hours ago, David Pimborough said: and from the royal mail https://www.royalmail.com/royal-mail-you/intellectual-property-rights/reproducing-stamps So if the stamp is public domain a 100% photo of the stamp is not in breach of copyright However different countries have different rules Just read it and I understand from it that commercial use requires a license. Hence if we upload the stamp for selling it, unless we mark it editorial only, we need a license, don't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meanderingemu Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 16 minutes ago, hdh said: Just read it and I understand from it that commercial use requires a license. Hence if we upload the stamp for selling it, unless we mark it editorial only, we need a license, don't we? also to consider that the post office does not owns the rights to the image in the stamp, for stamps of works of art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geogphotos Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 I wasn't sent this email. Was it only sent to contributors who have all of their images as Exclusive and none as Non-exclusive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdh Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, geogphotos said: I wasn't sent this email. Was it only sent to contributors who have all of their images as Exclusive and none as Non-exclusive? they sent a count of pictures that had the flag (which was an incorrect figure btw), maybe your count was (incorrectly) zero? Edited December 3, 2019 by hdh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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