Airliners.net: new terms - read them an weep

[Glidepath]

Joris is a wise man.

suggestion from my part: join hands, start your own site.

[Slijfie]

Interesting subject: selling photos to magazines and book companies... This is one of the advantages of Airliners.net. I have sold several of my (now 146) photos at Airlines and made some nice contacts in several countries.

However! Sometimes things go wrong. Last September I sold 5 photos to a French company called Marine-editions in Rennes. I was happy to see that one of my photos was used to fill the cover of a book about carrier aviation.
Since then I have been trying to get paid and to get a copy of the two books in question. I sent several e-mails and even called the guy. He did not like being called, but he promised to arrange everything. That was four weeks ago. Nothing heard of him since. I'm really p*ssed off by now.

Does anyone know these guys? Maybe someone has the same experience. You may consider this a warning!



Rob

[cHabu]

.

Hiya,

Just got he following in my mailbox:

Dear Airliners.net User,

We have rolled back our initial release of the new Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We would like to incorporate photographer and user feedback before re-releasing the new Terms of Use and Privacy Policy on Airliners.net. We have worked very closely with the crew to bring you the best Terms of Use and Privacy Policy possible, and ensure that all copyrights to your photos remain with the photographer. We understand that there may still be questions and/or feedback and we want a chance to answer all your questions. Your input in this process is very important to us.

Some key facts:

You as the photographer/copyright holder retain ownership of the submitted picture, and only grant a limited license to Airliners.net so that other members of the community may view and enjoy your photograph. You may remove your photograph from Airliners.net and terminate your license to us at any time by sending us an email.

Your picture will undergo a screening process. We will try to notify everyone who submits a picture of the outcome of the screening process by email.
If your picture is accepted to be displayed at Airliners.net, Airliners.net may modify your picture for the following limited purposes only:
for technical purposes such as compressing the submitted JPG file or converting it to another format such as TIF;
adding a copyright bar to your picture;
adding a watermark in accordance with your stated preferences. Airliners.net reserves the right not to display the watermark to some users at our own discretion.
Your picture can be displayed in one or many of the site's sections, either in thumbnail, mid-or full size version. It can also be linked to by other websites. For more details, please view photo linking at http://www.airliners.net/ownsearch/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
If your picture is not accepted, we will endeavor to send you an email explanation. If you think your picture was incorrectly screened, please feel free to use our appeal function as detailed in the same email. It is our intention to notify you the result of the appeal by email as well. The result of the appeal is final.
Please read the review only version of the Terms of Use by clicking http://www.airliners.net/reviewtermsofuse/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

The comment period will be open for seven days, starting on 2/21/2008 and ending on 2/28/2008. We will answer questions and if needed, amend the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy before we re-release at the beginning of March. We truly value your opinions and want to ensure you feel protected and confident uploading to Airliners.net. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions, the crew and Demand Media will both be fielding as many questions as needed.

Respectfully,

Airliners.net Management and Crew

Haven't had time to read the 'new' proposed ToU, but we only have seven (7) days to do so don't wait to long....

Chris.

[Paul]

I sent several e-mails and even called the guy. He did not like being called, but he promised to arrange everything. That was four weeks ago. Nothing heard of him since. Rob

NOT liked being called.. WHO CARES! I would call him every week on the same day again and again, till you have what you need..

Aanhouder wind zeggen ze hier

Groet, Paul.

[Joris van Boven]

Aanhouder wind zeggen ze hier

Groet, Paul.

Maar schrijven ze het misschien anders

[Iwan Bogels]

Commercial internet stock photo bureaus are know to charge 80% of the payment for themselves, leaving 20% for the owner of the photo. And even with this rediculous unfavorable split-up, many people are happy to share their work with the rest of the world.

I wonder what will happen, but I think it would be nice if one or more websites would break Airliner's dominance in the market.

Personally I have never even tried to share my photos with any website, and after this debate I'm pretty sure I won't for a long time to come.

Just my 2c.
Iwan

[hmv]

Since then I have been trying to get paid and to get a copy of the two books in question. I sent several e-mails and even called the guy. He did not like being called, but he promised to arrange everything. That was four weeks ago. Nothing heard of him since. I'm really p*ssed off by now.

Rob

Just call them again, although he doesn't like it...
He used YOUR pictures.
Maybe you should contact the French Kamer van koophandel:
http://www.ambafrance.nl/article.php?id_article=6387, to get some more info about the owner and contact him in a direct way.

[Slijfie]

Just call them again, although he doesn't like it...

NOT liked being called.. WHO CARES! I would call him every week on the same day again and again, till you have what you need.

Thanks for your advice. I was going call him again anyway. My post was a warning in the first place and a request for similar experiences with this company.

[Key]

Maar schrijven ze het misschien anders

Joris is a wise man.

[Key]

Revised new terms are now up for review in this A.net forum topic. I understand the crew have had a big say in these, and as expected the improvement is huge. I would say, save a detail or two that I expect to be improved, these are fine.

Erik

[EHAM]

Interesting subject: selling photos to magazines and book companies... This is one of the advantages of Airliners.net. I have sold several of my (now 146) photos at Airlines and made some nice contacts in several countries.

However! Sometimes things go wrong. Last September I sold 5 photos to a French company called Marine-editions in Rennes. I was happy to see that one of my photos was used to fill the cover of a book about carrier aviation.
Since then I have been trying to get paid and to get a copy of the two books in question. I sent several e-mails and even called the guy. He did not like being called, but he promised to arrange everything. That was four weeks ago. Nothing heard of him since. I'm really p*ssed off by now.

Does anyone know these guys? Maybe someone has the same experience. You may consider this a warning!



Rob

I have this book, and with a photo of me in it. They asked if they could use the photo and when the book was published, they send the money and a copy of the book.
Will check out soon.

EDIT: photo made by Rob Schlieffert (don't know if I spelled it correct). Name is just below the photo.