Quote from: Semmick Photo on June 21, 2015, 08:38

He probably just doesn't feel obliged to answer to you

No, I don't feel "obliged" to sit on a forum all day long. I've already said what I wanted to say.

I have a pretty intense schedule and I won't be spending the little spare time I have on here. If you're happy with Demotix, go ahead. I was trying to be nice to photographers out there and save them losses.

If you've never made �20,000 out of news, you may wish to reconsider your business model.

And the bandits know that most photographers can't afford lawyers, same with the TV stations, they can and will openly break the rules and say "sue us" and they know we can't so they just do it.

So true.

Maybe a photobucket of the future would be one where paying members have access to an in-house legal team who file copyright claims on behalf of members.

Just an idea.

@photosales2015:
Where are you based?
Depending on your location and the location of the agencies using your photos I wonder why you don't use a lawyer to sort this thing out?

Have you ever been through a legal process? Do you even know how incredibly expensive and long-drawn it is? I had one in the past that cost me over $120,000 and was a complete waste. You need a tremendous amount of funds to fight a legal battle like this.

DO NOT sell with Demotix!

I won't recommend anyone to sell their own work through Demotix. I am now warning anyone who may not be aware how they operate.

And here's why:

A few months ago I registered with Demotix to sell some of my photos through them. They had a nice and shiny platform, well presented. But they rejected the photos and claimed they were "too small" (2500x2500px) and not up to par with their standards. The photos are in excellent quality.

While claiming to have rejected them they forwarded the images to other agencies they collaborate with and started selling them anyways without paying me a single dime. I began finding my photos on over 30 international newspapers when a major story broke. In fact, my photos were republished repeatedly for weeks whenever the incident would be mentioned. After finding my photos duplicated in news reports water stamped with "AFP" as the original copyright holder (!) I contacted Demotix and I also contacted AFP to ask why my photos were being published as their copyright domain. No answer. I contacted them again and again, with no answer from either sources.

I then immediately went to delete my images from their account but the account doesn't allow you to just delete them as you wish... So I contacted them again to demand they delete all my images from their database asaps and explained that I wanted to close my account. That didn't work either. After a week I got a response. Instead of deleting them as I had asked, they tried to cling on to them claiming "are you sure you want us to delete them? The images have been issued to our international network" and should I delete them each network would have to be asked to delete them too. I again emailed them to demand they delete the images. I have never received a response. I have repeatedly demanded to delete my images and my account, and I am getting nowhere with it.

So, although they had rejected my images and were not paying me for them, they had in fact published them for sale on other databases, to other agencies. By not selling them through their own name, they leave the legal and financial burden on YOU to prove they sold them and infringed on your copyright, which is extremely expensive and a difficult process. 

In other words Demotix sells YOUR photos to other photo agencies. So if you see your pictures elsewhere they have indeed sold them, and collect profits and left you out. The whole company should be dragged to court for copyright infringement. 

I read that one professional press photographer received a payments of around �3 for several of his photos sold through Demotix that appeared in the press. But fact is that the press had purchased his photos for �300 each and up to �2,000 for some front pagers. He sure didn't get his "50/50" profit split.   

I warn people not to use Demotix. Its far better to create your own website and do mailing campaigns to the press for your photos.