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Need clarity re marking for "editorial use only"


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According to other posts on this forum, if I mark an image as "not released," Alamy automatically offers it for licensing for editorial use only, and the burden of compliance is on the end user.

 

OK -- what happens if, on the restrictions screen, I leave everything at "All" with the exception of usage, and there I choose the "editorial" option?

 

Does that reinforce that the image is offered for editorial use only?  Or does that have some other effect, such as eliminating it for editorial use?

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Any restriction you add stops useage from that area.

 

This explains what you need to set.  http://www.alamy.com/contributor/help/image-restrictions.asp

 

"Editorial use only

If you need to restrict your images to permit editorial use only, you should apply the following restrictions.

  • All Countries; Advertising/Promotion; All Medias; All Industries; All Sub-industries
  • All Countries; Consumer Goods; All Medias; All Industries; All Sub-industries
  • All Countries; Direct Mail/Brochures; All Medias; All Industries; All Sub-industries
  • All Countries; Indoor Display; All Medias; All Industries; All Sun-industries
  • All Countries; Non-Editorial Electronic and web uses – other; All Medias; All Industries
  • All Countries; Internal business usage; All Medias; All Industries; All Sub-industries"

Since restricted images don't go into the distribution pool, you have to ask yourself if it's required. Since you don't know the end use and how it will be used, i.e. a client might be going to photoshop that pesky editorial problem out  of the image, any restriction would be a potential sales killer.

 

And ironically, you will get Alamy sending you a periodic email asking... Do you really need to have those images restricted because it might be hurting sales?..... got one the other day!!

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Thanks, Geoff, for your prompt response.  I had already read that information, but still think it is ambiguous and burdensome to the photographer.  My other agencies have just a single box selection labeled "Editorial Use Only" which takes care of the situation  with a single check.

 

I also got that Alamy message and took the restrictions off 21 images, which I now regret.

 

I shoot primarily travel, but that's a broad field.  All too often, there's something in the image field that conceivably could require a property or model release.  I always try to get the releases -- have binders full of them -- but many times, getting a release isn't possible, so I market those images for editorial use only.  Also, I refuse to "assign" a release to anyone including Alamy, so my released images also are sent to Alamy for editorial use only.

 

Over the years, even with the "Editorial Use Only" restriction, my agents often have licensed my images in a semi-commercial way, such as backdrops for sales cubicles, general travel brochures, point of sale cards, calendars, postcards, magazine covers, and so on. Strangely enough, or just luckily, none of those usages has kicked off a legal problem.  Pure editorial use is an increasingly rare bird.  It's the vast gray area between obvious commercial (to sell a product) and pure editorial that has me concerned.

 

Two more questions:

 

(1) Re your sentence "Since restricted images don't go into the distribution pool..."  where do they go?  For example, would my restricted image labeled [Lake Conroe] come up when a client simply enters the words "Lake" or "Conroe" in a search bar?

 

(2) Similar strings on this forum have suggested putting "Editorial Use Only" in the caption field.  What do you think of that?

 

Many thanks.

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