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Contract Change 2021 - Official thread


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8 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Yes, quite, they say:

 

"We’ve moved to a tiered system so we can ensure that we remain fair to those contributors who sell well with us, and we believe a $250 threshold is low and achievable. We also want there to be an incentive for those independent contributors who sell large volumes with Alamy to remain with us, and to work with us exclusively."

 

This enormous gulf between $250 and $25,000 seems totally unfair to all those in between those figures, don't they worry about being fair to those contributors earning  $23,000 like Doc, or $20,000, or $15,000....? I can't see their rationale at all, there is simply no incentive to try harder unless you're teetering just below the £25,000 mark, I actually thought it must be a typo.

 

 

it's just like they set it up to have place to "throw a bone" (see Exclusive last time)  and create an in-between "Shiny Gold" at $5000 with some incentives for exclusives in there

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1 minute ago, Cryptoprocta said:

It's more like Gold, Silver and Rust.

Gold, Silver and GOODBYE!

 

Allan

 

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3 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Yes quite, they say:

 

"We’ve moved to a tiered system so we can ensure that we remain fair to those contributors who sell well with us, and we believe a $250 threshold is low and achievable. We also want there to be an incentive for those independent contributors who sell large volumes with Alamy to remain with us, and to work with us exclusively."

 

This enormous gulf between $250 and $25,000 seems totally unfair to all those in between those figures, don't they worry about being fair to those contributors earning  $23,000 like Doc, or $20,000, or $15,000....? I can't see their rationale at all, there is simply no incentive to try harder unless you're teetering just below the £25,000 mark, I actually thought it must be a typo.

I thought it was a typo too :)

There is absolutely no incentive for the vast majority of contributors.

The only incentive I now have is to mark everything as non exclusive and supply as many agencies as possible.

I've been a loyal contributor to Alamy since 2003 supplying mainly exclusive content. The only sensible business decision for me is to get my content with as many outlets as quickly as possible. It's a shame but they've rather forced our hand with this latest contract grab.

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Out of 11 years actively selling through Alamy I have only exceeded the $250 baseline in five of those. Never any chance of achieving the £25,000 sales per year incentive.

 

That means if things continue in the same vain I will have years at 20% and years possibly at 40% earnings with more years at the lower rate. Will it be worth continuing to submit more images? I think NOT.

 

I have always been exclusive to Alamy the only other sales outside of Alamy were those which were permitted in the Alamy terms of exclusivity.

 

Today I uploaded a batch of images before seeing contract changes announcement with a further batch to follow shortly. NOT NOW.

 

I was also considering some photographic equipment purchases for stock work specifically for Alamy before the new commission rates were announced, NOT NOW.

 

I am going to wait to see what, if any, Alamy’s response will be to all our comments before making any final decision as to what my future course will be. In the meantime my images with Alamy will remain exclusive. Just In Case. WISHFUL THINKING.

 

Allan

 

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If anyone wants to PROTEST against this move without deleting their entire image collection (yet):

 

  1. Go to Alamy Image Manager
  2. Select all images (or large batches)
  3. Go to Optional menu
  4. Check Restrictions for Personal, Editorial and one other use category!

If Alamy decides to reconsider then simply reverse the process.

 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Colblimp said:

That's me out of Distribution.

Did you get to opt out today?

 

When I tried, I got taken to this page, which says you can't opt out until April.

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

 

Correction: it says that, but you actually can. <rolls eyes>

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4 minutes ago, Cryptoprocta said:

Except that we can't do it until next April:

"You can add territories at any time, but you can only deselect territories in April."

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

Sneaky timing, Alamy.

I've just opted out - an earlier post said that opting out has been extended by 3 mnths...

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Just now, gardenbush said:

I've just opted out - an earlier post said that opting out has been extended by 3 mnths...

That's funny, when I tried, I just got taken to that page I linked to. I'll try again, thanks.

But I think with the other clauses I'm extremely concerned about, I may be out altogether.

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Just now, Cryptoprocta said:

Did you get to opt out today?

 

Whebn I tried, I got taken to this page, which says you can't opt out until April.

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

I managed to opt out today. Click on the 'Select all territories' box and everything will deselect and you're done.

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1 minute ago, Cryptoprocta said:

Did you get to opt out today?

 

Whebn I tried, I got taken to this page, which says you can't opt out until April.

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

 

 

i just opted out of one country, All are marked with Blue checkmarks which means open (it was red a few days ago)

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Just now, Colblimp said:

I managed to opt out today. Click on the 'Select all territories' box and everything will deselect and you're done.

Yes, I tried again when I read what Gardenbush had written.

Previously, I didn't try because I'd read the note about April.

See you can't always believe what you read on Alamy!

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28 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

I don't think it is about 'hurting Alamy'

 

It is about what action you take when you find yourself in an abusive relationship. 

 

ie) self respect

 

 

I joined up here because it seemed like a friendly place where people were paid fairly for their work. And for contributors, this forum is enormously useful. You folks who DO sell pictures (I'm new and still haven't ticked that box) do a great deal of Alamy's work for them by advising the rest of us (and each other) how to engage with the platform, and how to improve. And they've even got you advising them - for free - what to write in their own blog!

 

I suspect you contribute because you're nice people and want to help, but it's also, perhaps, a little bit of leverage you have if you want to use it: delete your past advice, and direct all new requests for help to Alamy themselves. It feels like a grubby suggestion and perhaps it would be a biggish step for many of you, but if you really feel you're being shafted...

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I think for us contributors that are primarily use the "news" route this new contract should be of concern to Alamy as well as ourselves. There are plenty of other agencies out there who pay 50% without any stipulations,  and who push out images just as well as Alamy Live News does. 

 

One does have to ask why PA would keep Alamy Live news going as well as their own News feed, although I bet it's cheaper to source pics from Alamy News than it is to have full time news photographers, and of course they get a diversity of images they wouldn't otherwise get.

 

I've just invested significantly in new equipment, and was about to ramp up my activity for the news feed.. however I "eagerly" await the outcome of what rate I'm going to be on going forwards.

 

Simon 

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As a person with ~1000 RM images and 50 sales there is no real alternative to Alamy though is there?  Gross sales also used to be in three figures but now are two so I'll be put down into silver within a year.

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I haven't uploaded any images for a long time due to dropping rates and worsening terms. I will terminating the account ASAP. I strongly suggest everyone else to do the same and take back the control of what is ours.

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2 minutes ago, Gina Kelly said:

Alamy - where is the loyalty to your photographers, especially to those of us who have been with you, and loyal to you,  for a long time? To those of us who are providing you with exclusive content year after year? Every year there are fewer and fewer incentives to continue the hard work that goes into being a stock photographer. Every year we see our work being sold for lower and lower prices.  I stopped being surprised by these contract changes a long time ago. Why not put the effort into motivating and providing incentives to us to keep at it, rather than slowly beating us down like this?  I'm not one of those who is on the forum moaning about every little thing. I've bitten my tongue over and over, tried not to complain about the changes, tried to remain positive and just "work harder!" but I'm losing steam. This has become demoralizing. 

Totally agree 100%

It seems the loyalty is just one sided.

Alamy you are shameful.

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3 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

The opt out is open for the next three months. 

As said above, but the distrubution page still says "You can add territories at any time, but you can only deselect territories in April."

Memo to self: don't always believe what you read.

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2 minutes ago, Cryptoprocta said:

As said above, but the distrubution page still says "You can add territories at any time, but you can only deselect territories in April."

 

 

But you can. See what others have written above. 

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