Jump to content

Contributor contracts - changes


Recommended Posts

Clicking on the link in the original post returns a 'page not found message'. I also can't find anything in the Alamy Blog/For Contributors/Announcements section.

 

Does this mean that the Contract Changes are being rewritten?

 

If so please could Alamy confirm that?  

 

Michael

 

If they are rewriting it then it's too late for me and a few others who have terminated now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Clicking on the link in the original post returns a 'page not found message'. I also can't find anything in the Alamy Blog/For Contributors/Announcements section.

 

Does this mean that the Contract Changes are being rewritten?

 

If so please could Alamy confirm that?  

 

Michael

 

If they are rewriting it then it's too late for me and a few others who have terminated now.

 

 

And probably for those who are in the process of doing so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well - I am still hoping for a re-wording, it EPUK's legal minds are able to "misinterpret" Alamys meanings, then a court of law could to ......shame cos I could have sent a lot of news in the past couple of days.....

 

I think the outcome of this is that a number of professional contributors will leave and (until this all blows over) Alamy with will be left with mainly mediocre offerings.....

 

All that is needed is a form of words which are not able to be mis-interpreted... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well - I am still hoping for a re-wording, it EPUK's legal minds are able to "misinterpret" Alamys meanings, then a court of law could to ......shame cos I could have sent a lot of news in the past couple of days.....

 

I think the outcome of this is that a number of professional contributors will leave and (until this all blows over) Alamy with will be left with mainly mediocre offerings.....

 

All that is needed is a form of words which are not able to be mis-interpreted... 

 

I was told by Member Services on Friday that the contract was not going to be amended. So the options are accept the new contract or leave.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've closed 700 infringement cases over the past several years..Some as early as 1990 and many on my own from 4 figures to 6 figures.

 

 

Mind saying how you come upon the infringments in the first place?  I am particularly interested in the ones NOT related to Internet use as well as those that are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Well - I am still hoping for a re-wording, it EPUK's legal minds are able to "misinterpret" Alamys meanings, then a court of law could to ......shame cos I could have sent a lot of news in the past couple of days.....

 

I think the outcome of this is that a number of professional contributors will leave and (until this all blows over) Alamy with will be left with mainly mediocre offerings.....

 

All that is needed is a form of words which are not able to be mis-interpreted... 

 

I was told by Member Services on Friday that the contract was not going to be amended. So the options are accept the new contract or leave.

 

What this means is many more serious experienced photographers will probably remain on Alamy but direct their best work to competing agencies.  Their rejects from those agencies will then be uploaded to Alamy further damaging the competitive quality level on Alamy as perceived by their clients.  

 

Is that what Alamy really wants?

 

Do they really care that little about experienced contributors who are seriously committed to successful commercial stock photography?

 

Overall, maybe it is time Alamy sat back and thought things through more intelligently.  People who maybe a few years ago were seduced by "disruptive" now see it for what it really means  -  market destructive and short term.  And ultimately self-destructive?  There is more to life and more to honest business than what the legal eagles and technical accountants tell us.

 

Priorities???  Sometimes you really can't have your cake AND eat it.  If you have a goose that lays the golden eggs then don't treat it like a turkey.  Rights erosion, arcane and disadvantaged subscription deals and fees dwindling toward vanishing point will eventually kill any agency never mind individual photographers.  

 

Before many of your contributors become charity cases themselves show us that you really DO care.  Show us some INCLUSIVE solutions with regard to fees, licensing models and infringement. Because that is what viable photographers are really looking for today.   Agencies who offer that will have the best photography which will command the best fees.  It's not complicated. It's that simple.  If Alamy don't have the people who can implement this then buy them in. Spend the money on THEM  -  not on the lawyers and accounts wranglers. The disruptive advantage of tech-based crowd-sourcing is nowhere near as monopolized or productive as it once was.  If the old path is becoming tortuously bent and suffocatingly entangled then there is no shame in cutting a clean swathe. 

 

It is really not surprising that photographers will prefer to send their pics to the agencies who can prove their duty of care and financial respect for their photographers.

 

I rarely post on this forum any more.  Since I joined Alamy I have grossed well over $300,000 through them.  So I have a serious vested interest in Alamy not failing.  In the last 12 months I have only uploaded 41 pictures here.  I work / have worked with several professional agencies.  I am sitting on 1000+ new pics from Russia, Finland, Turkey, France and Spain  -  travel, editorial and specialist subjects  -   currently trying to decide where to send them.  I KNOW Alamy can sell these more "efficiently" than some of the other agencies.  But can they get a sensible fee?  Can their licensing models protect my rights?  Can they treat me as a valued partner?  For me these are very serious questions.

 

I need some comfort here.  Not just in words but in practice.  I have no desire for Alamy to fall apart.  Perhaps divisive contract changes should be shelved in favour of a clear, positive, inclusive rebirth.  It's a decisive, perhaps a defining moment.  A recognition of maturity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry but I just composed a long response to this long thread.

I've been a contributor to Alamy for nearly ten years.  I have

been in the Photo agency business for over three decades.

I Love Alamy and Alamy is a large reason that I am still in the

industry.  If I did not trust Alamy 100% my images would be

gone,  they are still on Alamy.

 

Chuck (Still to original one)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What this means is many more serious experienced photographers will probably remain on Alamy but direct their best work to competing agencies.  Their rejects from those agencies will then be uploaded to Alamy further damaging the competitive quality level on Alamy as perceived by their clients.  

 

 

Exactly my point so +1 :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

David, I agree.

 

I have had a lot of time for Alamy in my 13 years here and have been an advocate for it. However my modest sales have slumped just as I was ramping things up and working full time at my relaunched photography business. The return on effort is no longer viable, and even worse I am no longer enjoying Alamy oriented photography

 

I, too, believe that the crowd sourced model is fatally flawed, certainly for professional photographers and ultimately I don't think it is sustainable for the libraries. I suspect they will go the way clip-art sellers went.

 

As I am making a new start with my photography anyway and questioning whether it would fit with Alamy the new contract was timely and only part of my decision. It has forced me to face up to the uncomfortable truth that Alamy will not, cannot, represent my new work effectively; the big challenge is where will I do better (can hardly be worse) and will it be contributor friendly?

 

I appreciate that many will be prepared to take Alamy's intentions and words around the contract on trust; or indeed can live with the contract. That is fine, it is entirely proper that individuals do what they see as right for themselves. I don't expect to be with Alamy for a 14th year, even on a casual basis, as it will work against my vision of a more upmarket personal "brand". I have two weeks to make my decision but if I leave it wil be completely; I won't even leave my "dross".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something I don't think has been discussed here is what problems Alamy had with the old contract.  If you want to change a contract then what were the problems with the old contract.  I guess I am just old school and if it ain't broke don't fix it.  I hope this can be resolved to everyones liking. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry but I just composed a long response to this long thread.

I've been a contributor to Alamy for nearly ten years.  I have

been in the Photo agency business for over three decades.

I Love Alamy and Alamy is a large reason that I am still in the

industry.  If I did not trust Alamy 100% my images would be

gone,  they are still on Alamy.

 

Chuck (Still to original one)

 

I too don't have any reason to mistrust Alamy. They've always been upfront with me. Also, after all the time and effort that I've put into building my collection here over the past 7+ years, it would take a lot to make me want to pull the plug now. However, everyone's situation is different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alamy said on Farcebook today that 500 new members had joined Alamy over the last week. I wonder just how many have left due to the contract changes?

Ooh, at least 5, I should think.

 

 

Without sounding patronising I do feel for those who cannot afford to disengage as they might wish to.

Can't afford and don't wish to.

Forgive my ignorance but it seems one could simply remove images on selling an exclusive licence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry but I just composed a long response to this long thread.

I've been a contributor to Alamy for nearly ten years.  I have

been in the Photo agency business for over three decades.

I Love Alamy and Alamy is a large reason that I am still in the

industry.  If I did not trust Alamy 100% my images would be

gone,  they are still on Alamy.

 

Chuck (Still to original one)

I totally agree, I trust the current guys at Alamy 100% but as I intimated in my post earlier, the guys running it now may not be the guys running in the future, things change and what we have here is obviously a contract that can be interpreted a number of ways... Current Alamy say this what they ment and how we should read it is .... But if EPUK (and others) can interpret it in a more devisive way, who is to say future heads or owners of Alamy themselves would not do the same....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Sorry but I just composed a long response to this long thread.

I've been a contributor to Alamy for nearly ten years.  I have

been in the Photo agency business for over three decades.

I Love Alamy and Alamy is a large reason that I am still in the

industry.  If I did not trust Alamy 100% my images would be

gone,  they are still on Alamy.

 

Chuck (Still to original one)

I totally agree, I trust the current guys at Alamy 100% but as I intimated in my post earlier, the guys running it now may not be the guys running in the future, things change and what we have here is obviously a contract that can be interpreted a number of ways... Current Alamy say this what they ment and how we should read it is .... But if EPUK (and others) can interpret it in a more devisive way, who is to say future heads or owners of Alamy themselves would not do the same....

 

I'm in two minds on this.  One the one hand I'll agree that the guys running it now may not be the guys running in the future and their interpretation of the contract may be different.  On the other hand, their public statements of what they meant can and would be used against them if they tried anything funny and it went to law here in the UK.  The Internet doesn't forget - and lawyers get rich by researching precedents.  Given that, my inclination is to come down on Alamy's side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Not happy with the new contract – particularly because of retrospective licenses & not being able to contact infringers.

Does anyone know how to terminate the contract? I mean: Is there a button somewhere, or do I need to write an e-mail?

 

If you are not happy the only alternative is to leave Alamy I'm afraid.

 

Allan

 

Yep! I am afraid thats the only way and I can see quite a few following that example. :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks to all those who posted on this one page alone - there are clearly some seriously disaffected Alamy contributors, currently in the process of terminating their agreements or thinking of doing so.

 

This has all left a nasty taste in my mouth - and I have written to Alan and James saying so. I've sent my life's work to Alamy for 9 years but have also seen my rates slowly ebb, along with everyone else's of course. I used to be with an important, award-winning agency of Photojournalism which started out with fairness, openness and honesty as the main qualities that attracted some of the best in the industry. We were taken over by a French parent company who then unceremoniously shut us down, leaving us stranded and bitter. Alamy threw me a life ring when I saw those same qualities there. Those attributes appear to have been eroded with this last debacle as the last nail in the coffin for many.

 

But I shall stay. Not because I agree with the contract. Not because I think it's fair, or open or in some cases, as being in my interests. I stay because I've put - I dunno - hundreds and hundreds of evening hours hunched over a keyboard tapping and tapping .. and I simply cannot turn my back on that lost time. If I did so, it is as a symbol of my professional standing that it feel as if I might as well turn my back on this industry which I'm not quite ready for. I think this is what they're relying on people like me to offer as reasons for bleating a feeble Yes to the contract.

 

Alamy know how much time those with 20-50-1000+k images on their system, have invested. It's almost emotional blackmail: 'Stay calm and carry on!' Delete the pictures and you delete half your life!

 

But it's been a very close call for me. Alamy will feel smug about their 500 newbies (whom I wish well) but, just like our French masters a decade ago, they won't lose sleep about those leaving regardless of the material they're losing. Lose some - gain some more.

 

I stay but I stay with extreme prejudice and shall watch every word change they introduce in the coming months and years. The erosion of our rights will continue - but what does it matter when the majority carry on bleating - and signing?

 

Richard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Richard touched on there being a bitter taste left in the mouth of togs over all this, and I certainly feel it too, not just with Alamy, but with the industry as a whole. It's absolutely everywhere. Not a day goes by where I don't hear about some tog being bent over a barrel for their work and to be honest, I'm sick of hearing about it. 

 

I'm keeping my port on Alamy because I worked hard to put it there, but I'm putting the camera away and leaving the industry to fight it out. You cannot create a business plan in a world where the goal posts are being moved at an alarming rate, and I cannot help but feel utter fear for those sitting on the sole income from their photography. They talk about video killing the radio star, but to be honest, that's nothing compared to what's going on in this industry just now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.