Press Agencies

One of my photos has recently become quite popular on 500px and as a result I was approached by a number of press agencies looking to write a small story around the picture for syndication.

In the end I got cold feet and decided to stick with my usual approach and just upload the photo to Alamy.

My main concern with the agency route was that they required exclusivity and would retain the rights to licence the photo in perpetuity. (I would retain copyright and get a 50-60% share of any sales). This would have prevented me from placing the photo with any other agencies after the initial interest, if there was any, had died down. I reasoned that in the longer term I'd be better off keeping my options open.

Are these concerns well-founded, or should I have gone with a press agency given the chance?

Well if it was one of the larger agencies you probably threw away a good opportunity as Alamy just doesn't reach what these bigger agencies do. Not sure, but if uploading to Alamy don't you lose the right to send the images to other agencies anyways?

MJPhotos24 wrote in post #13304090
Well if it was one of the larger agencies you probably threw away a good opportunity as Alamy just doesn't reach what these bigger agencies do. Not sure, but if uploading to Alamy don't you lose the right to send the images to other agencies anyways?

Oh well...live and learn as they say.

In answer to your question: no, you can submit to other agencies. The Alamy contract is non-exclusive.

Scott_online wrote in post #13306583
Oh well...live and learn as they say.

In answer to your question: no, you can submit to other agencies. The Alamy contract is non-exclusive.

Interesting, would have guessed they would not want you to send it to other agencies.

Scott_online wrote in post #13302810
One of my photos has recently become quite popular on 500px and as a result I was approached by a number of press agencies looking to write a small story around the picture for syndication.

In the end I got cold feet and decided to stick with my usual approach and just upload the photo to Alamy.

My main concern with the agency route was that they required exclusivity and would retain the rights to licence the photo in perpetuity. (I would retain copyright and get a 50-60% share of any sales). This would have prevented me from placing the photo with any other agencies after the initial interest, if there was any, had died down. I reasoned that in the longer term I'd be better off keeping my options open.

Are these concerns well-founded, or should I have gone with a press agency given the chance?

I'm guessing you are talking about Zuma and it is my understanding that you can negotiate the terms of image licensing with them. Talk to them on the phone.