I see a lot of people in here asking the same questions about Alamy time and time again. The very same questions I have asked. So I thought I should sum it up in one post to answer them all. I am not an Alamy expert, I'm just trying to answer a few questions I have for myself and possibly help some of you guys at the same time. I will edit and add more so please help me out by pointing out errors and things to add.

And yes, I have "stolen" all this information from other posts, wikipedia, Alamy and stock-photo blogs. Kudos to all of you that has written this in the first place!

Q: What is alamy?
A: Alamy is often considered to be Midstock. But nowadays the borders between Micro-, Mid-, and Macro-stock is fuzzy to say the least.

Q: What kind of licenses exist on Alamy?
A: You can choose between Royalty Free (RF), Rights Managed (RM) and Rights Managed Exclusive (RM-E) . You have to choose only one of them and you can not sell the same or very similar images as RF on other sites and as RM on Alamy.

Q: What is Royalty Free (RF)?
A: The customer pay a one-time fee to use the image multiple times for multiple purposes (normally with limits of how many times it can be reproduced). There is no time limit and no one can have exclusive rights of a Royalty-free image (the photographer can sell the image as many time as he wants). Price is determined by the size of the image purchased. This is the standard microstock license model. 

Q: What is Rights Managed (RM)?
A: The customer pays a licence fee each time they use the image. The agreement can include exclusivity, meaning that other customers cannot purchase the image under the same licence, if that is the case Alamy will ask for the photographers permission to sell it exclusively. The price is based on intended use.

Q: What is Rights Managed Exclusive (RM - E)?
A: The same as RM but Alamy dont have to ask the photographers permission to sell the image as exclusive.

Q: Which images work best as RM?
A: Here you can see a lot of different opinions, but images that sell infrequently and are hard to find or if you have any special area of expertise or something that requires expensive gear are definitely something you should consider as Rights Managed. Another way is to ask yourself the following questions written in another post by "StanRohrer".
Do I have model/proptery releases?
No=RM (with restrictions as editorial). Yes=either RM or RF
High or low volume sales?
High= RF. Low= RM
Would customer likely want to use this once or many times?
Once= RM. Many= RF
Easily repeatable photo (isolated apple)?
Yes= RF. No= RM

Q: I have images at microstock-sites can I sell them on Alamy?
A: Yes but it has to be sold as RF on Alamy. Although a lot of photographers dont like the idea of selling the same or similar images at very different price ranges on different sites, risking to upset the customers, it is no rules against it.

Q: I have editorial images, whitout model or property release, on microstock sites can I sell them on Alamy?
A: No. On Alamy unreleased images is sold as RM with restrictions to only allow editorial use, and you cant sell images as RF on micro-sites and RM at Alamy.

Q: I have a blurred out part of a body in the background of my image without the proper release, can I sell it as RF on Alamy?
A : No. On Almy you must have a release for all body parts in an image no matter how insignificant or blurred out they may be to sell it as RF. Otherwise you have to sell it as RM with restrictions.

Q: I have removed RF images from my micro-sites can I sell them as RM on Alamy?
A: Yes, you can do this but you are ultimately responsible for managing your license history. EG, if you want to sell the images as RM, you need to make sure they are not for sale as RF anywhere else. Also, any RF images that have previously sold would not be available for an exclusive RM sale.

Q: What is Novel use?
A: Alamy sell images at sub normal prices to groups after price nogotiating. Could include high volume/low prices. Includes both RF and RM images. You can opt out of these sales at the Alamy site once every year (in april).

Q: What is distribution?
A: A distributor is a third party agent assigned by Alamy. You receive 30% of a distributor sale. You can opt out or choose the territories that you would like to sign up for at the Alamy site.

Q: How much is my commission?
A: For all sales via Almy you receive 50% comission. For sales via dstribution you receive 30% comission.

 

I don't agree with this bit:
"High or low volume sales?
High= RF. Low= RM
Would customer likely want to use this once or many times?
Once= RM. Many= RF
Easily repeatable photo (isolated apple)?Yes= RF. No= RM"

It seems to be confusing microstock/Alamy with RF/RM.  If you want high volume sales go to the micros, not to Alamy, buat an image with low sales potential could do equally well on Alamy regardless of the license type. If it's a shot that a buyer might want to use many times that is a very good reason indeed to make them pay for each usage, otherwise you're effectively giving away subsequent usages free, and an isolated apple will sell equally well, and probably equally cheaply, regardless of the license type on Alamy.