Author Topic: My Adobe stock account has been de-activated (Read 2385 times)

Jim Cumming · « **on:** August 08, 2024, 14:06 »

Hi
I just received this notification
'Dear contributor, your Adobe Stock contributor account has been de-activated. Please see your email for more information or Contact us'
I then contacted Adobe and they replied 'Your content may be removed, or your account may be deactivated, for not complying with these Account and Content Submission Guidelines.
If your content has been removed, or your account blocked, due to a violation of our Terms (including these Account and Submission Guidelines), and you dispute the decision, you may file an appeal or use an out-of-court dispute resolution option (where applicable in your jurisdiction) by following the process here: https://www.adobe.com/trust/transparency.html

I don't do A.I. or Video just photos. I've been with Adobe Stock for over 8 years now.

Any ideas what to do?

Thanks
Jim

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #1 on:** August 08, 2024, 14:54 »

I'm so sorry to hear about (yet another) account being blocked at Adobe Stock. If you look through these forums, you'll see it's been happening to other contributors too (sadly)

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/adobe-has-blocked-my-account/

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-i-need-help-please/

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-another-story/

If you're the same Jim Cumming as I found with a Shutterstock portfolio, you have a lot of wildlife pictures and I can't imagine how you could be violating the submission guidelines with those.

The advice given here for past situations is to follow the link to the complaint/appeal process - people say that it takes weeks to get a reply. The Adobe Stock contributor liaison, Mat Hayward, has posted on a few to offer to intervene if contacted with details via his email (not via the forum messaging). See details in this post

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/adobe-has-blocked-my-account/msg605310/#msg605310

Please let us know what you find out. Lots of long-time contrributors are really unsettled by this seeminly-random, totally opaque, slow process.

Edited to correct the link to Mat's post with his email. Also to reiterate how utterly unreasonable it is to block the contributor whose content is downloaded in bulk - before even looking into it. Especially if this is a longstanding account and a first-of-a-kind event.

Adobe needs to do better with handling these types of things. Block the downloads at source if they see a buyer doing too many bulk downloads; don't allow the downloads and then punish contributors after the fact. And then investigate and resolve promptly - i.e. within 24 hours in most cases.

Above all, don't confiscate royalties if Adobe allows the account to be unblocked because the contributor did nothing wrong. That seems like a sneaky way to take 100% of those sales for the agency which is not the deal any of us signed up to.

Jim Cumming · « **Reply #2 on:** August 08, 2024, 15:09 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on August 08, 2024, 14:54

I'm so sorry to hear about (yet another) account being blocked at Adobe Stock. If you look through these forums, you'll see it's been happening to other contributors too (sadly)

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/adobe-has-blocked-my-account/

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-i-need-help-please/

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-another-story/

If you're the same Jim Cumming as I found with a Shutterstock portfolio, you have a lot of wildlife pictures and I can't imagine how you could be violating the submission guidelines with those.

The advice given here for past situations is to follow the link to the complaint/appeal process - people say that it takes weeks to get a reply. The Adobe Stock contributor liaison, Mat Hayward, has posted on a few to offer to intervene if contacted with details via his email (not via the forum messaging). See details in this post

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/account-blocked-another-story/

Please let us know what you find out. Lots of long-time contrributors are really unsettled by this seeminly-random, totally opaque, slow process.

Hi Jo Anne
Yup I'm the same guy on Shutterstock, I did have a what they call a 'download bomb' I believe its called the other day where about 150-200 photos were downloaded all at .55 each within a short period of time. I contacted Adobe asking if this was legit as I'd never experienced someone doing this. They said it was all good. That's the only thing I can see that may have caused this, but like most I didn't get a specific reason.

*just received an email stating...
"It looks like they reviewed your account and found many of those sales to be suspicious, as a result the account was temporary blocked.
You may file an appeal however, and dispute this by following the process here: https://www.adobe.com/trust/transparency.html
Once you submit an appeal, it’s sent for review, and we will notify you of the outcome of the appeal.

Jim Cumming · « **Reply #3 on:** August 09, 2024, 09:38 »

Good news, my account has been re-activated, thank you to Mat and Diego for your quick action.
Jim

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #4 on:** August 09, 2024, 09:44 »

That is excellent news. Do you get to keep the royalties for the downloads that caused this mess?

For all the reports that have surfaced here, I think you hold the record for speediest resolution. Let's hope there have been fixes and improvements in the process for handling these situations.

DiscreetDuck · « **Reply #5 on:** August 09, 2024, 09:45 »

Quote from: Jim Cumming on August 09, 2024, 09:38

Good news, my account has been re-activated, thank you to Mat and Diego for your quick action.
Jim

Happy for you.
If nature real photos are an issue for Adobe, they should claim it

Jim Cumming · « **Reply #6 on:** August 09, 2024, 10:01 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on August 09, 2024, 09:44

That is excellent news. Do you get to keep the royalties for the downloads that caused this mess?

Thanks Jo Ann, no they deducted the amount which I think is understandable. All I can do in the future should something like this happen again is to contact support and hope for the best.
Jim

cobalt · « **Reply #7 on:** August 09, 2024, 11:19 »

That is fantastic news.

Also great to hear that Diego and Mat where involved and ready to help. Thank you!

But it should not have happened in the first place.

If criminals test credit cards and download a lot of files, your acount should never be blocked while they investigate.

Certainly not on established producers, but even newbies should be given some grace.

JustAnImage · « **Reply #8 on:** August 09, 2024, 17:13 »

Quote from: Jim Cumming on August 09, 2024, 09:38

Good news, my account has been re-activated, thank you to Mat and Diego for your quick action.
Jim

I'm very happy to hear that your account is active again - great!
Good sales :-)

Mat and Diego also helped me a lot with my block many months ago, which is not something to be taken for granted.

However, I still think it is the wrong way to go about it that as a contributor you are defenceless against such attacks and are punished by having your account blocked.

Jim Cumming · « **Reply #9 on:** August 10, 2024, 06:10 »

Quote from: JustAnImage on August 09, 2024, 17:13

Quote from: Jim Cumming on August 09, 2024, 09:38
Good news, my account has been re-activated, thank you to Mat and Diego for your quick action.
Jim
I'm very happy to hear that your account is active again - great!
Good sales :-)

Mat and Diego also helped me a lot with my block many months ago, which is not something to be taken for granted.

However, I still think it is the wrong way to go about it that as a contributor you are defenceless against such attacks and are punished by having your account blocked.

Thanks, good to be back. I agree it's the wrong way to go about it all and like you and others have said we are defenceless against this sort of thing. Will have to see of this short break will affect sales.
Jim

JustAnImage · « **Reply #10 on:** August 10, 2024, 06:39 »

Quote from: Jim Cumming on August 10, 2024, 06:10

Thanks, good to be back. I agree it's the wrong way to go about it all and like you and others have said we are defenceless against this sort of thing. Will have to see of this short break will affect sales.
Jim

Since your account block was very short (if I understand correctly), this should hardly have any effect.

My block lasted about 10 days and it took a good 8 weeks to get back to the old numbers - but it recovered and I'm sure it will for you too, probably much faster.

Here is a graphic from my history (see below) which shows the "recovery process".

Jim Cumming · « **Reply #11 on:** August 10, 2024, 07:22 »

Quote from: JustAnImage on August 10, 2024, 06:39

Quote from: Jim Cumming on August 10, 2024, 06:10
Thanks, good to be back. I agree it's the wrong way to go about it all and like you and others have said we are defenceless against this sort of thing. Will have to see of this short break will affect sales.
Jim
Since your account block was very short (if I understand correctly), this should hardly have any effect.

My block lasted about 10 days and it took a good 8 weeks to get back to the old numbers - but it recovered and I'm sure it will for you too, probably much faster.

Here is a graphic from my history (see below) which shows the "recovery process".

Here's hoping