]For me this page says, "you can opt out again in April"

It says that for everyone but, as Sue pointed out, it's not true.. you can opt out now as I did.

Quote from: ShadySue on May 17, 2021, 09:59

Quote from: Firn on May 17, 2021, 09:52

Quote from: ShadySue on May 17, 2021, 09:38

Meanwhile, although on the distribution page, it says you can't opt out til April, you actually can, they have apparently extended the ability to opt out for three months.

Can you tell me where to find that option? I've searched anywhere, but can't find it. Never bothered me all that much before, but with yet another commissionc ut I'd like to opt out.

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

For me this page says, "you can opt out again in April" .

The entire contract is unbelievable. Alamy has no liability of anything and the contributor is liable of everything. They (and their distributors) can use our images free for marketing, etc. (11.5 and 15.1)

Indeed it says you can opt out again in April, but apparently they have extended it by three months and in fact we can opt out now. You can't believe what they say!

It's moot with the new clauses anyway., which allow them to sell license however they want, without restrictions.

Quote from: ravens on May 18, 2021, 01:38

Quote from: ShadySue on May 17, 2021, 09:59

Quote from: Firn on May 17, 2021, 09:52

Quote from: ShadySue on May 17, 2021, 09:38

Meanwhile, although on the distribution page, it says you can't opt out til April, you actually can, they have apparently extended the ability to opt out for three months.

Can you tell me where to find that option? I've searched anywhere, but can't find it. Never bothered me all that much before, but with yet another commissionc ut I'd like to opt out.

https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx

For me this page says, "you can opt out again in April" .

The entire contract is unbelievable. Alamy has no liability of anything and the contributor is liable of everything. They (and their distributors) can use our images free for marketing, etc. (11.5 and 15.1)

Indeed it says you can opt out again in April, but apparently they have extended it by three months and in fact we can opt out now. You can't believe what they say!

It's moot with the new clauses anyway., which allow them to sell license however they want, without restrictions.

Thanks, ShadySue - yes, opt out is indeed possible.

Commission cuts always follow when a company gets shareholders.

Their next move will of course be more commission cuts.

Quote from: H2O on May 18, 2021, 07:03

Commission cuts always follow when a company gets shareholders.

Their next move will of course be more commission cuts.

When did Alamy get share holders?

Also when the company is sold to someone new, who will always try to get more of the value, that wasn't tapped before. 11 Feb 2020: PA Media Group has bought stock images business Alamy for an undisclosed fee, the company has announced.

�Alamy can look forward to a fantastic future as part of the PA Media Group.� 

And the obvious?

Alamy prides itself on offering a better commission rate than most other agencies. Will PA Media Group continue to offer the same commission rates to Alamy�s existing contributors?

There are no plans to change that.

Yeah we all believed that lie, as soon as Alamy was sold. Here we are with the new "no plans" changes, as expected.

LOL. Here's what it should have said.

"There are no plans to change that... for now"
"There are no plans to change that... until our plans change"
"There are no plans to change that... and by change we mean no increase"

Seriously, is anyone making a profit doing this anymore? What percentage of people even track profitability? Or is this just now hobbyists who don't care how much they spend on their hobby while these companies get filthy rich?

Quote from: Uncle Pete on May 18, 2021, 08:37

Quote from: H2O on May 18, 2021, 07:03

Commission cuts always follow when a company gets shareholders.

Their next move will of course be more commission cuts.

When did Alamy get share holders?

Also when the company is sold to someone new, who will always try to get more of the value, that wasn't tapped before. 11 Feb 2020: PA Media Group has bought stock images business Alamy for an undisclosed fee, the company has announced.

�Alamy can look forward to a fantastic future as part of the PA Media Group.� 

And the obvious?

Alamy prides itself on offering a better commission rate than most other agencies. Will PA Media Group continue to offer the same commission rates to Alamy�s existing contributors?

There are no plans to change that.

Yeah we all believed that lie, as soon as Alamy was sold. Here we are with the new "no plans" changes, as expected.

LOL. Here's what it should have said.

"There are no plans to change that... for now"
"There are no plans to change that... until our plans change"
"There are no plans to change that... and by change we mean no increase"

Seriously, is anyone making a profit doing this anymore? What percentage of people even track profitability? Or is this just now hobbyists who don't care how much they spend on their hobby while these companies get filthy rich?

Yes, there are no plans to change that... YET!

Profitability? Back before the agencies, one by one, pulled the rug out from under our feet, there might have been some long term value in the residuals from years of work and building. That's been taken away.

Some people can still make some money, income and have some value in Microstock. Most people can't and won't. New people more and more, have no chance.

I wouldn't need to write a whole book, how to make money on Microstock, to tell someone how they might have better profits.

Reduce the cost of production and related expenses. Minimal equipment investment, a nice crop camera for example, one prime lens, a good solid tripod, shoot natural light. Or as Terry has proven, "Plop and Shoot" you can use the on camera flash.

How much should anyone invest in time and equipment for a dime?   

BTW if you sell images on Panthermedia your portfolio is on Alamy in their account. In the search you can see the competing duplicates of your images and if somebody buys some of them you will make less money and it will be harder to achieve the $250 to stay at 40% commission level.

The option below in my account is already unchecked, so that means I'm already opted out of this exciting deal right?

"Occasionally we have fantastic deals and partnerships with Alamy approved third parties, opt-in to take advantage (Don�t worry, we�ll never sell or share your details.)"

No, that's only concerning your email preferences. Alamy's ditribution scheme option is here https://www.alamy.com/distribution-terms.aspx, in the "Additional revenue options" of your Alamy dashboard.

Interesting how the NUJ union pleaded to treat contributors fairly after the takeover by PA Media:
https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/nuj-calls-on-pa-media-group-to-treat-photographers-fairly.html

But greedy PA Media refused to listen and shaft everyone.

What happens to the exclusive images?

They earn less than before, no different from non-exclusive.

Quote from: ShadySue on May 18, 2021, 13:53

Quote from: Orchidpoet on May 18, 2021, 13:46

What happens to the exclusive images?

They earn less than before, no different from non-exclusive.

Would you like to explain in what way? Thanks.

All the relevant info is here:
https://www.alamy.com/terms/contributor-contract-changes.aspx
Be sure to check out some of the new clauses in the contract as well as the commission reductions. These worry me even more than the pay cut.

Quote from: ShadySue on May 18, 2021, 14:36

Quote from: Orchidpoet on May 18, 2021, 14:31

Quote from: ShadySue on May 18, 2021, 13:53

Quote from: Orchidpoet on May 18, 2021, 13:46

What happens to the exclusive images?

They earn less than before, no different from non-exclusive.

Would you like to explain in what way? Thanks.

All the relevant info is here:
https://www.alamy.com/terms/contributor-contract-changes.aspx
Be sure to check out some of the new clauses in the contract as well as the commission reductions. These worry me even more than the pay cut.

I wonder what i missed. It seems that the exclusive images still get 50%. I have opted out of certain distribution sales.

What else are you worried about? Selling RM as RF?

I don't see where you see exclusives will get 50% - except for those in Platinum.
To reach Platinum/50%:
"If you are not an Agency Contributor and your total License Fees for Content sales in any one Revenue Year (starting 1 July 2020), net of any refunds, are greater than or equal to $25,000 then the Alamy Commission for the following Revenue Year for Content that is Exclusive to Alamy will automatically switch to Alamy Platinum as outlined in the Alamy Commission Table." (12.14)
If you're in that income group, congratulations, but by far the majority of suppliers do not have that value of sales from Alamy, so will get "Gold"/40% and the lower earners, under $250pa, will drop further, to 20%.

Yes, as I'm iS exclusive, I suspect PA will try to sell RF, even though all my Alamy files are designated as RM.
I'm also extremely concerned about this:
"4.1.6. any use or exploitation of the Content by Alamy, a Customer or a Distributor will not be, or be deemed to be indecent, obscene, defamatory, insulting, racist, offensive, indecent, vulgar or violate publicity rights anywhere in the world."
Apart from anything else, why is Alamy expressly allowing themselves to use files in any of these ways? They are clearly shifting any responsibility to the supplier, the only ones they don't cover in that clause. But in any case, that's not how I want my content to be used. They should be educating the buyers, not endangering the content creators.

If our contract allows us to designate our images as RM, if Alamy sells them as RF, it's Alamy in breach and not us. I doubt if it is the case. I suspect their will merely make the a very generous RM term.

I don't see where the terms for the exclusives.

They have changed the contract. If we agree to the new contract, we agree to their new terms.

No exclusives, inasmuch as although we could place images exclusively there, there is no benefit in doing so.
Allegedly, this was because people were abusing exclusivity - which no doubt was happening to an extent: but it's just an excuse.