{
  "id": 14222304,
  "title": "I’m a professional photographer, and I think we’re being fleeced by Alamy and other stock photo libraries",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/im-a-professional-photographer-and-i-think-were-being-fleeced-by",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-13T14:28:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Amateur Photographer",
    "slug": "amateur-photographer",
    "url": "https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/opinion/im-a-professional-photographer-and-i-think-were-being-fleeced-by-alamy-and-other-stock-photo-libraries/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Professional photographer David Crossland has criticized Alamy and other stock photo libraries for implementing a controversial 20% royalty cut for photographers earning between $250 and $3,000 annually. Crossland, who had previously earned a 40% commission through Alamy's \"Gold\" tier, now faces a significant drop in his net income. The company announced the change in July, stating it would benefit the platform by \"building a stronger Alamy for the future\" and investing in improvements.\n\nThis decision has sparked outrage among contributors, with some estimating that only 3% to 8% of contributors clear $3,000 in annual revenue. Alamy's CEO, Lira Mendonca, acknowledged that certain contributors would be disappointed by the changes, but defended the move, attributing it to AI transforming the search for content and evolving customer expectations.\n\nHowever, critics argue that this move is a money grab, exploiting the contributions of amateur and semi-professional photographers who may not have the resources to remove their images. The royalty cut is not the only alteration; contributors are also now responsible for paying all costs arising from complaints related to their content. Crossland, who has earned over $117,000 in gross revenue from Alamy since 2005, believes this change will ultimately harm the platform and its contributors.",
  "summary": "I've been selling my images through Alamy for over 20 years, and now I'm more worse off than ever before. The post I’m a professional photographer, and I think we’re being fleeced by Alamy and other stock photo libraries appeared first on Amateur Photographer .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}