Quiensera Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Hi, I'm completely new to Alamy or selling photographs online and I just have a legal question which confuses me a bit: In addition to others, I have a lot of nice pictures that were taken from public streets but feature recognizable buildings in the background (for example from the Vegas strip. Pics that show some of the hotels in the background, day or night) Also cityscape views taken from my room that show a number of the hotels, but from a far distance. One can read the hotel logos (such as "Caesar's Palace," "Bally's" etc, but, again, it's at a distance, no real details of the hotels themselves.) Can such pictures be sold, or would I need permission from every single hotel in the shot? What if the shot shows one entire hotel (Bellagio with fountains in foreground, for example.) I could understand if it is for commercial use, such as someone using the pictures for T-shirts, mugs etc, but what if someone writes a blog or news article about Vegas and just needs a pic to accompany the story? There are plenty of street shots in newspapers, I can't imagine that the photographer would need permission from absolutely everyone and everything in the picture in such instances, they just need a nice shot of the place they are writing about. Could I specify it's for newspaper use only and still submit the picture? What if there is a movie poster or product such as a soft drink in a picture? Do I need permission from all of those companies as well, even if it's not for commercial use? Sorry if that's a dumb question, but it just confuses me, because it would seem that most bloggers/newspapers have more use for shots of hotels/landmarks/cityscapes than they do for the more artistic ones, and they have to get these shots from somewhere. If Alamy may not be the right place to sell those kinds of pictures, is there another site that does? What about sites that sell cell phone pics, are they less stringent about this? I may not be able to use Stockimo, since I don't have an I-phone. BTW, these pics would not have recognizable people in it, just wondering about the buildings. Thanks for any clarification! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 If the buildings are incidental to the image then you do not need releases. Only if your image is of a particular building then you need a release. Regarding people in your images you need releases wether they are recognisable or not if you wish to sell RF. If you do not have release mark the image as having no releases and sell as RM. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Your pictures of Vegas can be sold RM. And as Allan said about people the same goes for buildings. RM licenses are used not only for newspapers, but for textbooks, magazine articles and such. If you want an image to be sold for advertising, you must have releases. If you have a person as the main subject in the foreground and off in the distance are some buildings, I believe a release for the person but not the background may be licensed for advertising. The background is usually out of focus anyway if you are focusing on a near person. Now is the time for fellow forum members to correct me if my thinking is in error. Wouldn't be the first time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandre Fagundes Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 I thought any images with a logo or the name of the hotel one would have to say that you dont have the property rights and would be sold as editorial, isnt that the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 I thought any images with a logo or the name of the hotel one would have to say that you dont have the property rights and would be sold as editorial, isnt that the case? You don't need to restrict, just list as RM with no releases. My only restricted images are a few imposed by Alamy after complaints from alleged rights holders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiensera Posted August 16, 2016 Author Share Posted August 16, 2016 Hey, thanks for all of the responses, they are really helpful. I'm just trying to learn more about all of those technical terms, RM vs RF and such. So, I could not sell an image as RF and mark it as not having the releases, so the buyer could then use it in a non-commercial, strictly editorial way? It would always have to be RM? As long as he doesn't use it commercially, why couldn't I sell it as RF? It seems that RM is a lot more restrictive for the buyer and perhaps fewer people would buy a license marked as such? Plus, the person would then have the exclusive right to the image for a long time, so no one else could buy it? Unfortunately, I don't have the greatest camera in the world, so I don't know if I could compete with the super-sharp, heavily photoshopped, most amazing images already out there (especially if we are talking places like Vegas, where a lot of great pics exists already), so generally RF may be a better choice for those. Then again, everyone with pics that have recognizable people or buildings may be in the same situation. Again, still trying to figure it all out. Thanks a lot for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Hey, thanks for all of the responses, they are really helpful. I'm just trying to learn more about all of those technical terms, RM vs RF and such. So, I could not sell an image as RF and mark it as not having the releases, so the buyer could then use it in a non-commercial, strictly editorial way? It would always have to be RM? As long as he doesn't use it commercially, why couldn't I sell it as RF? It seems that RM is a lot more restrictive for the buyer and perhaps fewer people would buy a license marked as such? Plus, the person would then have the exclusive right to the image for a long time, so no one else could buy it? If your image has property or people that need releases and you don't have them, the default license on alamy is RM. RM does not mean the buyer has exclusive rights to the image. Others can also license the same RM image. Maria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiensera Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Oh, okay, so if, let's say ten people would want to use the image at the same time, they could, even under that license? Would the buyer pay once and then have the rights to use the image as much as he wants, forever? Or only for a limited time? Or can I decide on a case by case basis what to do? What about pricing? Does Alamy decide on that or me? How would I know how much to charge? Just sorting it all out before uploading things, so I do everything correctly. I have almost 40,000 images on my computer and I'm sorting through them right now to see what would be usable. The nicer ones are mixed in with private ones as well, so it'll take a bit to see what I have. Does Alamy have FTP btw? Or do you upload the images from the website? Should I put metadata on the pics for descriptions, copyrights and such (I have photo mechanic)? Also, what about pics taken on private property, but busy areas, such as the conservatory at the Bellagio, casinos indoors, hotel lobbies, pool areas or the like, as long as I mark it RM and disclose that I don't have the releases, can I use these pics? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Oh, okay, so if, let's say ten people would want to use the image at the same time, they could, even under that license? Would the buyer pay once and then have the rights to use the image as much as he wants, forever? Or only for a limited time? Or can I decide on a case by case basis what to do? What about pricing? Does Alamy decide on that or me? How would I know how much to charge? As long as the image does not an exclusive license, then any number of customers could licence it. Royalty Free licenses allow the customer to use the image again and again without further costs. Rights Managed licenses are for a specific usage and specific amount of time. Given that information, a price is determined by alamy. By entering a contract with alamy, we let make those decisions. We don't provide input into that process of selling the licenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanGibson Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 As regards ftp and web upload, you can do either. I've used both and had no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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