I would really like to know if our images will still be available for sale if we are not opted in to streaming/subscription.

They sell on other partner sites too. If they keep that going I will just stop uploading and leave the existing images there, with yay subs disabled of course. I can cash out once a year or whatever.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 01, 2016, 16:19

They sell on other partner sites too. If they keep that going I will just stop uploading and leave the existing images there, with yay subs disabled of course. I can cash out once a year or whatever.

Good point - that I totally overlooked!

I stopped uploading a long time ago and never opted in to subs but I am reluctant to just close my account without an assurance from them that my images will be removed from their partner sites (I am currently only opted in for two of them) and that I will receive the money they already owe me.

I want to hear from YAY that they wont auto opt in to streaming after some time and we are safe to just leave our images there to gather dust on the other partner programs. 

Come on, Yay. Please come here and tell me I can cash out the $11 you have made me in the last three years before I close my account on your sorry excuse for an agency. You know it's the decent thing to do...

They will not answer you. When it is about to pay money to contributors for their work they simply disappear��

I am pretty sure that the lack of notice (in my case only a few days) of the changes is a legal breach of contract, specially when it was announced just before everything closed down for the Christmas/New year break. I doubt very much if that was a coincidence.
It would be great if any of our fellow members could advise on the legal situation in Yay's home country or what authorities we could contact over there.
Surely if someone closes an existing business as Yay said they were, then any monies owed should be paid, assuming that the company remained solvent.
The fact that they are moving their operations to another company with another business model should make no difference.
I am absolutely certain that Yay's behavior would not be legal in the UK and trading standards or similar would be able to either act or advise on the issue.
I would also be very surprised if they are not in breach of some EU laws as well.

Hi guys,

The streaming option is, as I mentioned, a great way for bloggers and small businesses to get into image licensing. Most of our customers who use this option are not professional image users. These are people who have never before licensed an image, and their budgets are very limited. There are absolutely no customers who sign up for the streaming plan and use thousands of images. We also have an active program to get streaming customers to upgrade to our other plans. These plans also pay 50 % commission to contributors, which means that earnings for these sales can reach up to $49.50 for a single image. 50 % commission is fair, and we aim to among the agencies that pay a fair commission.

We will look into getting more editorial content onto YAY Images as well. So far editorial has not been in big demand, so it hasn't had priority. In addition our editorial collection must be curated better in order to be it's own category of images.

You can still keep your images even though you are opted-out of YAY Images / streaming. Your images will still be available on our partner sites. We will not automatically opt you in if you are opted-out.

If you are having trouble getting an answer from us, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] [nofollow] and I'll look into what has happend. We are not ignoring any requests, but we do have quite a lot to do with too few resources, so sometimes we might need some time to get back to you.

Hi guys,

The streaming option is, as I mentioned, a great way for bloggers and small businesses to get into image licensing. Most of our customers who use this option are not professional image users. These are people who have never before licensed an image, and their budgets are very limited. There are absolutely no customers who sign up for the streaming plan and use thousands of images. We also have an active program to get streaming customers to upgrade to our other plans. These plans also pay 50 % commission to contributors, which means that earnings for these sales can reach up to $49.50 for a single image. 50 % commission is fair, and we aim to among the agencies that pay a fair commission.

We will look into getting more editorial content onto YAY Images as well. So far editorial has not been in big demand, so it hasn't had priority. In addition our editorial collection must be curated better in order to be it's own category of images.

You can still keep your images even though you are opted-out of YAY Images / streaming. Your images will still be available on our partner sites. We will not automatically opt you in if you are opted-out.

If you are having trouble getting an answer from us, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I'll look into what has happend. We are not ignoring any requests, but we do have quite a lot to do with too few resources, so sometimes we might need some time to get back to you.

I think this just about says it all.

Hi guys,

The streaming option is, as I mentioned, a great way for bloggers and small businesses to get into image licensing. Most of our customers who use this option are not professional image users. These are people who have never before licensed an image, and their budgets are very limited. There are absolutely no customers who sign up for the streaming plan and use thousands of images. We also have an active program to get streaming customers to upgrade to our other plans. These plans also pay 50 % commission to contributors, which means that earnings for these sales can reach up to $49.50 for a single image. 50 % commission is fair, and we aim to among the agencies that pay a fair commission.

We will look into getting more editorial content onto YAY Images as well. So far editorial has not been in big demand, so it hasn't had priority. In addition our editorial collection must be curated better in order to be it's own category of images.

You can still keep your images even though you are opted-out of YAY Images / streaming. Your images will still be available on our partner sites. We will not automatically opt you in if you are opted-out.

If you are having trouble getting an answer from us, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] and I'll look into what has happend. We are not ignoring any requests, but we do have quite a lot to do with too few resources, so sometimes we might need some time to get back to you.

You have absolutely ignored the several requests in this thread from contributors who do not wish to join a streaming service and instead would like to close their accounts with Yay and cash out. Please would you let the contributor community know if this is possible?

Come on, Jan. We're still waiting for an answer from Yay....

I want to be able to cash out and close down too so it would be nice to know, it's our money and they've already had their cut! These MS sites are getting worse as they slip down the slope.

Jan did eventually reply to my original email but it was more a case of trying to sell me on the 'benefits' of the new  program. There was no response to my question about being paid out if I wanted to close my account.
I am now waiting for a response to my second email.