Slartybartfast Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Ok I give up, I have opted out of the newspaper scheme following a run of insulting (microtstock level) fees, which I now only get 50% of, un-reported sales(the ones I have found out about) and lack of trust in the whole idea. So my question now is from what point do my pictures stop being available to this scheme, is it immediate or can they still sell images for a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearl Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I opted out once and it seemed to come into effect fairly quickly. However you may still have sales reported for at least another 3 months as there is a delay in reporting. Pearl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Ok I give up, I have opted out of the newspaper scheme following a run of insulting (microtstock level) fees, which I now only get 50% of, un-reported sales(the ones I have found out about) and lack of trust in the whole idea. So my question now is from what point do my pictures stop being available to this scheme, is it immediate or can they still sell images for a time? You mean you opted out around April 1st - which is the only time of year one can opt out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Ok I give up, I have opted out of the newspaper scheme following a run of insulting (microtstock level) fees, which I now only get 50% of, un-reported sales(the ones I have found out about) and lack of trust in the whole idea. So my question now is from what point do my pictures stop being available to this scheme, is it immediate or can they still sell images for a time? You mean you opted out around April 1st - which is the only time of year one can opt out? No, that's NU - you can opt out of newspapers any time, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Ok I give up, I have opted out of the newspaper scheme following a run of insulting (microtstock level) fees, which I now only get 50% of, un-reported sales(the ones I have found out about) and lack of trust in the whole idea. So my question now is from what point do my pictures stop being available to this scheme, is it immediate or can they still sell images for a time? You mean you opted out around April 1st - which is the only time of year one can opt out? No, that's NU - you can opt out of newspapers any time, I believe. Hi Phil. You are quite right, one can opt out of the newspaper scheme at any time - I was thinking of the distributor scheme which is also April 1st. Sorry about the misinformation.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dov makabaw Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 The papers are spoiled for choice of images and opting out will not be noticed by them, only by you. The only solution would be if we ALL opted out. Even then I suspect that they could buy all that they need from other agencies. What bugs me even more than the prices is that one has to chase to get the sales billed. dov Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Even then I suspect that they could buy all that they need from other agencies. What bugs me even more than the prices is that one has to chase to get the sales billed. dov +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Alamy wrote the other day that about 90% of members have opted in or something like that. I guess this market controls the prices. Newspapers are feeling the pinch more and more these days with some ready to go to the dogs. More online content is free, and advertising is mostly the only source of revenue. Having said that if I spent all day at some event, or outside a court room waiting on 'that moment' to arrive, only then to get back and upload 20-50 images for them to sell for £x.xx each then maybe I'd have to re-think my future. I don't know if all reportage images sell for low amounts, it could be that a share of funds gets divided up between the photogs for a particular day. Busy days you get less, and less busy you get more. I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike@Meonshore Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Alamy wrote the other day that about 90% of members have opted in or something like that. I guess this market controls the prices. Newspapers are feeling the pinch more and more these days with some ready to go to the dogs. More online content is free, and advertising is mostly the only source of revenue. Having said that if I spent all day at some event, or outside a court room waiting on 'that moment' to arrive, only then to get back and upload 20-50 images for them to sell for £x.xx each then maybe I'd have to re-think my future. I don't know if all reportage images sell for low amounts, it could be that a share of funds gets divided up between the photogs for a particular day. Busy days you get less, and less busy you get more. I dunno. Paul, The newspaper scheme doesn't apply to images in Alamy Live News - just those in the main stock library. Alamy Live News images move over to the main stock library after 48(ish) hours. So if it is breaking news then the newspapers that are in the scheme pay significantly more because of the news value of the image, in fact would pay the same as all other newspapers would for the image. To take a current example of Michael Le Vell - Kevin Webster in Coronation Street: - court exit photos of Michael Le Vell who was yesterday was acquitted of serious allegations used in the papers today and maybe even tomorrow = Live News fees - court exit photos of Michael Le Vell who was yesterday was acquitted of serious allegations used in the papers in 3 weeks time on his return to the soap = newspaper scheme fees (if the paper in question is in the scheme) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Alamy wrote the other day that about 90% of members have opted in or something like that. I guess this market controls the prices. Newspapers are feeling the pinch more and more these days with some ready to go to the dogs. More online content is free, and advertising is mostly the only source of revenue. Having said that if I spent all day at some event, or outside a court room waiting on 'that moment' to arrive, only then to get back and upload 20-50 images for them to sell for £x.xx each then maybe I'd have to re-think my future. I don't know if all reportage images sell for low amounts, it could be that a share of funds gets divided up between the photogs for a particular day. Busy days you get less, and less busy you get more. I dunno. Paul, The newspaper scheme doesn't apply to images in Alamy Live News - just those in the main stock library. Alamy Live News images move over to the main stock library after 48(ish) hours. So if it is breaking news then the newspapers that are in the scheme pay significantly more because of the news value of the image, in fact would pay the same as all other newspapers would for the image. To take a current example of Michael Le Vell - Kevin Webster in Coronation Street: - court exit photos of Michael Le Vell who was yesterday was acquitted of serious allegations used in the papers today and maybe even tomorrow = Live News fees - court exit photos of Michael Le Vell who was yesterday was acquitted of serious allegations used in the papers in 3 weeks time on his return to the soap = newspaper scheme fees (if the paper in question is in the scheme) Thanks for clearing that up I see why there is an annoyance with the scheme then. A paper runs a story about bad weather. Instead of sending a photog out in the rain, they'll go to Alamy for a picture of someone getting drenched in the rain. Pay buttons for it and use it. No one cares when the pic was taken, or who it is, or even where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
losdemas Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 A paper runs a story about bad weather. Instead of sending a photog out in the rain, they'll go to Alamy for a picture of someone getting drenched in the rain. Pay buttons for it and use it. No one cares when the pic was taken, or who it is, or even where. It ain't necessarily so. It's very easy for a picture editor to miss something in an image which no longer exists or which links that picture to a specific time/date/year. Small things can incense (certain) readers - who do not expect to be short-changed by their rag of choice by seeing OLD pictures. It called news, which is what customers expect to see. If they think that they are being fobbed off, they will buy (/subscribe online to) a different paper. Papers therefore DO use contemporary images of weather etc. which have been uploaded to Alamy Live News, which is why Alamy constantly request them! EDIT: You should know, Paul, I know for a fact that you've sold at least one contemporary weather picture here (and may you sell many more). Now get out in that rain ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike@Meonshore Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Thanks for clearing that up I see why there is an annoyance with the scheme then. A paper runs a story about bad weather. Instead of sending a photog out in the rain, they'll go to Alamy for a picture of someone getting drenched in the rain. Pay buttons for it and use it. No one cares when the pic was taken, or who it is, or even where. I don't know about that. I think the annoyance about the scheme is simply that the rates are significantly lower than non-scheme rates. As an individual you might not see a massive uplift in *your* images being used - therefore one sale at "normal" rates makes more than several at newspaper scheme rates. Alamy however either see an increase in usage or spend from papers in the scheme - or at least prevent or delay a move away from Alamy to other agencies who do offer subscription. The potential upside is that - Live News images get picked up at full rates because the paper is used to dealing with Alamy when they might not have done prior to the scheme - Overall as an individual you see an increase in sales value albeit made up of many smaller sales and as has just been posted above weather images seem to be a strong seller from Alamy Live News. Stock has always been about getting images cheaper than sending a staffer or commissioning a freelancer - it is the premise under which it exists. But as the weather comment above correctly says most stock is used to generically illustrate features rather than current news - hence the distinction in the two parts of Alamy. Live News images *must* be current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulstw Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Actually most of my sales has come from the weather needs of Alamy. It's a very small edge of a very big wedge though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Todd Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 My best chance of sales are via live news as once they go into the stock pile I'm sure they drop to the bottom page due to a crap AR I opted in to a couple of territories the other day to see if I get anything from them but stayed out of the UK newspaper scheme as I just don't see the point of a sale at $6 or less. I'll give it 6 months as an experiment to see if they earn more abroad, if at all. I've had quite a few zooms recently and one of my psuedonyms has a CTR of 2.33 against the Alamy average of 0.51 but still not a whiff of a sale. Alamy Rank is a dark art and I've no idea how to improve mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartybartfast Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 If it was purely the low fees, I may have stayed in, however the poor reporting is the last straw - only about 30% of the sales credited without my intervention. One of the sales was over a year old and I lost out more because it was used when we got paid 60% of the fee, by the time I found it and told Alamy they had changed to the 50% model. After spending all the extra time contacting Alamy etc. the fee was just not worth the effort.($x.x) I would not mind the low fees so much if I had got more sales, the irony may be that I was getting more sales but I would not know because of the bad reporting. Once they have failed to be reported and not accidentally discovered by myself they are gone for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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