I settled on trying Alamy as they seemed the least objectionable out of a pretty disgusting slew of really objectionable agencies. I've travelled the world in the past 9 years and amassed 108,000 images. I retired on royalties 9 years ago, after 40 years making a good living. I started researching stock agencies a few months ago. Nothing about this experience was good, except that they answered a couple of my emails within a few days Prices are daft - this month my sales stand at $42 for 7 images, some only selling for cents!! It's easy to blame Alamy, which certainly has its faults, but other agencies tell a similar tale. Unfortunately, stock photography, like coal mining, is now history. Those of us already in the game persevered, because we could make a lot of money. When Alamy entered what was a new industry they had to invent new rules, so mistakes were made. To keep this tsunami of unsaleable stuff under control, they've over reacted on QC, which sometimes has had me tearing my hair out in frustration. This was unprecedented and frankly crazy, because they've been inundated with rubbish. Apart from banned subjects like glamour, they'll take ANYTHING. I believe criticisms of their QC go back to the fact that they do not edit for content. I've been with Alamy about 20 years, during which payment has been made on the dot every month without fail - unless of course I had less than $50 in the kitty, when I'd have to wait until the next month. These people cannot have read their conditions, which clearly state that payment will only be made when there's over $50 due. Oct review, I see that a common complaint with Alamy is slow payment. It is not right that someone is anonymously making money in a dubious manner from my family heirloom.įrustrated with Alamy? No better elsewhere.įurther to my 21st. Not for commercial gain by unscrupulous people. used for non-commercial research and private study use only. Images of historic paintings such as these may well be in the public domain, but should be "All rights reserved" i.e. I am sure most photographers and contributors are decent, honest folk, but there is a minority of contributors who are submitting images that they have no right to submit as their own work. The artist may have passed away over 70 years ago and the painting itself may be out of copyright, but the photographic image itself must have been taken more recently and distributed for monetary gain without permission of the owner of the painting. I own these paintings, yet they are on the Alamy website emblazoned with the Alamy logo, as if they own them! The same with museum paintings. They are selling images of 19th Century paintings that I own the original of (by my ancestor). To learn more about Alamy, read our review or visit their website.Yet again, I am very concerned about the copyright practices of this company. James West has explained the reasons for the commission changes in his YouTube video: Resulting from the fact that this year’s cut followed a cut from 60% to 50% in 2010, some photographers have already terminated their contracts, others threatened to do so. In the BPPA’s opinion, Alamy should still pay existing contributors 50 per cent and change commission structure only for new contributors. In a letter to James West, Alamy’s CEO, the British Press Photographers’ Association insisted Alamy should reconsider their decision.
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Ten percent drop may not be significant when you sell an image for USD 4, but it is more prominent if Alamy license your work for USD 200. Those who cannot afford selling their content as exclusive are affected the most. There are many concerns expressed by contributing photographers. In the same email of 7th January they informed the beginning of the standard 45 day notice period before the new contract comes into effect. Initially, such change was supposed to affect all contributors but later in January 2019 they said that after considering photographers feedback, images exclusive to Alamy would remain at 50%. From 21st February 2019, Alamy contributor commission for direct sales will change from 50% to 40%. In December 2018, Alamy sent an email regarding their plans to cut contributor commission. Published on 14 February 2019 | Updated on 1 January 2020