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Author Topic: this license  (Read 7699 times)

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« on: October 10, 2021, 10:40 »
+3
Not an expert in image licensing, but does this sound a little too low?


Country: Worldwide
Usage: Editorial, Website and Social media, any size, single placement and design, worldwide, in perpetuity
Media: Website, app and social media
Print run: Unlimited
Placement: Any - print inside, electronic, online
Image Size: Any size
Start: 09 October 2021
Duration: In perpetuity    

$ 0.21


« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2021, 15:54 »
+5
Shutterstock (and other sites) have broader license that sell for 22 cents, so it's not clear what "too low" means given the current market.

Alamy's days as a higher end, RM and RF agency are long behind it and they're selling microstock-priced licenses these days. I haven't had anything that low there, but I know I've heard others complain of this type of under $1 license, so it's not unprecedented.

« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2021, 16:31 »
0
Shutterstock (and other sites) have broader license that sell for 22 cents, so it's not clear what "too low" means given the current market.

Alamy's days as a higher end, RM and RF agency are long behind it and they're selling microstock-priced licenses these days. I haven't had anything that low there, but I know I've heard others complain of this type of under $1 license, so it's not unprecedented.

I've had several "under a buck" sales.  Very hard pill to swallow with such strong, broad licenses.  I still get 3-5 decent sales a month ($25-$150 per sale) but that is mixed with cheap-seat sales as well.  I have about 5k images there.

« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2021, 07:23 »
0
Even if images are placed under Rights Managed, Alamy is allowing lots of freedom to the buyer. Wonder if these "In perpetuity" licenses mean Alamy is going to ditch Rights Managed altogether?

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #4 on: October 12, 2021, 11:15 »
0
Even if images are placed under Rights Managed, Alamy is allowing lots of freedom to the buyer. Wonder if these "In perpetuity" licenses mean Alamy is going to ditch Rights Managed altogether?
That was one of several questions which I emailled to the MD at the time of this year's contract change. It was the only one she did not address.

« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2021, 22:31 »
0
This nonsense of 21 cent "gross" license prices became real for me today - three licenses, each at 21 cents with my net at 8 cents each. Even the sad sack Shutterstock pays better than that!

I can get my head around high volume subscriptions with low per-use royalties and a minimum payment to contributors - what Shutterstock used to do before they switched to pandering to the stock market. But Alamy is so low volume for sales that the 40% with no minimum royalty plus a massively long wait for sales to clear is a terrible package.

If these pathetic royalties increase (or if the higher royalty sales decrease too much) it may be time to bid Alamy farewell.

« Reply #6 on: October 15, 2021, 23:29 »
0
I left Alamy back in February after no sales for 12 months and the last commission paid just $3.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2021, 11:57 »
0
This nonsense of 21 cent "gross" license prices became real for me today - three licenses, each at 21 cents with my net at 8 cents each. Even the sad sack Shutterstock pays better than that!

I can get my head around high volume subscriptions with low per-use royalties and a minimum payment to contributors - what Shutterstock used to do before they switched to pandering to the stock market. But Alamy is so low volume for sales that the 40% with no minimum royalty plus a massively long wait for sales to clear is a terrible package.

If these pathetic royalties increase (or if the higher royalty sales decrease too much) it may be time to bid Alamy farewell.

July 2022 = 20% for many people.



At the end of each Revenue Year if your total License Fees for that year, net of any refunds:

    are less than $250 then the Alamy Commission for sales of your Content in the following Revenue Year will automatically switch to Alamy Silver as outlined in the Alamy Commission Table; or

    are greater than or equal to $250 then the Alamy Commission for sales of your Content in the following Revenue Year will remain on Alamy Gold for that year, as outlined in the Alamy Commission Table.

« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2021, 01:16 »
0
So when should I contact Alamy about sale being not reported. I found one of my images on Buzzfeed, article is from June 27th. So it's now been more than 4 months and still not reported?

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2021, 04:52 »
+1
So when should I contact Alamy about sale being not reported. I found one of my images on Buzzfeed, article is from June 27th. So it's now been more than 4 months and still not reported?

Make your first report now.

« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2021, 05:33 »
0
I'll do that, thanks.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2021, 06:32 »
+1
I'll do that, thanks.

And set up reminders to chase it up every four weeks if you don't get the sale report.

« Reply #12 on: November 02, 2021, 11:57 »
0
Thanks for your email.

 

There is a relevant download on this image, so weve passed this over to the customers account handler who will get the use billed as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards

« Reply #13 on: November 02, 2021, 12:32 »
0
So when should I contact Alamy about sale being not reported. I found one of my images on Buzzfeed, article is from June 27th. So it's now been more than 4 months and still not reported?

I'm glad you received confirmation that they need to get this billed, but more importantly, they need to get you paid for this use. My experience with the delay between billing and payment is that it can take months. Given this customer just "forgot" to acknowledge a use 4 months ago, I wouldn't assume prompt payment once it's billed.

The good news is that there's no worry about Buzzfeed not being able to pay :)

If you didn't already reply to customer support, I'd suggest writing back now. First, thanking them for their confirmation of the download, but then pointing out how long it has been since the use of the image and suggesting that "as soon as possible" is too vague. That you need Alamy to make getting you paid for this a priority, given their error in the usage being ignored for so long.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to have an automated system that sends notices to customers who download images and after (let's say) a month, don't report a sale. There could be boxes to check for "Didn't use" "Oops, forgot to report it" and "Project ongoing" so it'd be simple to manage. For a genuinely forgetful customer it'd be an assist, and it'd put all customers on notice that Alamy does expect them to pay if they use images.

I would cut Liz's suggested time to every couple of weeks until you get paid.

« Reply #14 on: November 02, 2021, 12:51 »
+1
I just told them that I found one of my images (with links and all) and it's been 4 months and still not reported and just asked them - quote: "Whats up with that?" :)

Anyways, I'll just leave it be, I'm not into this back and forth emailing. I'll wait about two weeks and then send them e-mail again. I don't expect tons of money here anyway.

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #15 on: November 02, 2021, 13:33 »
+1
Thanks for your email.

There is a relevant download on this image, so weve passed this over to the customers account handler who will get the use billed as soon as possible.

Kind regards

There is a relevant download
yeah, so they know if they want to look.

I don't think PA will change things, but sure would be nice to get up to date and charge for a download instead of relying on the honor system. When we see these posts like yours, we see how many are not reported that get discovered. What about the people who don't look, chase and spend time doing what the agency should be doing for us?

SVH

« Reply #16 on: November 03, 2021, 02:37 »
0
So I understand that on Alamy clients are able to download without ever having to pay for the download? It's all on trust basis and self-reporting? That's a really weird way of doing business. Thank god that other agencies don't work that way and with them you pay when you download. 

« Reply #17 on: November 03, 2021, 02:51 »
+3
So I understand that on Alamy clients are able to download without ever having to pay for the download? It's all on trust basis and self-reporting? That's a really weird way of doing business.
Yes, and unfortunately it is evicent that this trust basis business model doesn't work. Otherwise contributors would not need to hunt down their own sales. I only reported a sale that never showed up on my dashboard that was used in an online article as far back as 2020! Never showed up on my Alamy dashboard, but was credited back to Alamy + me.
And the most frustrating part is that of course we can assume that there are many sales we never notice and never get paid for, because if the site that used my image doesn't add credits to the image (which isn't necessary for commercial use image), I have no way of finding it. Just using an invert image search on thousands of my photos is hardly possible and without credits I don't know what site the image was bought from. When I search for my username + Alamy on google, most of the sales that did get reported don't even show up, so I can assume that only like 10% of my image sales can be detected like this. So, how man images of mine has Alamy given away for free? I'll never know.

« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2021, 23:45 »
+4
Update, sale got reported today, 25$ gross, 10$ for me.


 

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