Question 1

What if I want my material removed?

admin · Accepted Answer

Together with you, we make a lot of effort and spend a lot of money to create unique material for our website. We're a business designed to make money, so removing material from our site that makes us money is not our preference! We use the money we make to keep the business running, and use it to pay models to appear in shoots. We also work hard to inform models of the risks of appearing nude online, and models sign a Release (a legally binding contract) to indicate they agree to participate in the shoot and have that shoot online. We understand that circumstances can change. Having your material removed from our website may be a possibility. We take this request seriously, and have a process to handle such requests. Removing your content is not easy, fast or cheap, but it can be done in some cases. Remember that you cannot be blackmailed if you're not ashamed. We have two approaches; you can choose whichever suits you. But first...

Got an emergency? 🚨

If your content on our site is placing you at risk of physical or emotional violence, contact the police! What we do is legal and is nothing to be ashamed about. The police will take your situation seriously. It's fine to connect the police to us, and we'll work with them (and keep you informed). We can arrange for an immediate "content invisibility cloak" for people in dangerous situations. Contact model.application@abbywinters.com with the word "URGENT" in the subject (be sure to check your spam folder for our response). This action is temporary, and is not complete... but it will hide your shoots from casual viewers while we work out a more permanent solution.

Option 1: Content buy-back

In a nutshell

We calculate the total cost to us to create the content, plus the value of the content, then apply a discount based on the age of the content. You pay that to us, we permanently remove the material.

Benefits

Fast - can be done in a week or two.

Drawbacks

Costs a lot of money. Minimum set at €1,000.

Details

The formula for calculating the amount due to the Company has these factors:

Direct costs to create the content
- Where applicable, this will include STI tests for model(s), booking the shoot for model(s), travel of model(s) to the shoot, accommodation of model(s) during the shoot, model fees, shoot-partner fees (and a portion of their travel, if applicable), Shoot Producer fees, paperwork admin fees, video and stills Post Production fees, and Content Admin fees.
Plus, the content's ongoing value to us
- That is, how much we hope to earn from it in the next ~15 years
- We estimate this as the cost of content creation again.
Less, age of content factor
- That is, how much value we estimate to have already earned from it: discounted by 10% for each year the material has been online, to a maximum of 70% (7 years).
Plus VAT
- At 21%, the Dutch VAT rate

This formula is applied to each shoot the model wants removed from the site. For example:

A shoot cost €3,000 to produce in total. €3000 to produce, plus the lifetime value to us (the production cost again, another €3000), so we calculate the total value of the shoot to us on the day it's released was €6,000. The shoot has been online for three years. 10% x 3, for each year the content has been online. €6,000 less 30% equals €4200. We add Dutch VAT of 21%, €882. The model in this example would need to pay €5082 for their content to be removed.

Note that this example is using shoot production costs that may not apply to you. This example is for one shoot - the same formula is applied to each shoot the model has appeared in with us. If the model has appeared in multi-model shoots, the costs of the other models' fees (travel, accom, STI, shoot fees, etc) are also included. Models may choose what shoots to remove - one, some or all. We'll provide a spreadsheet that shows the detailed calculation, along with more information on how each factor is calculated. We aim to be open and transparent in this. We may choose to refuse to remove some shoots (that we deem as being more valuable to our customers and thus to our ongoing success). Once an agreement has been reached, there's an Agreement to sign. We'll issue an invoice. Once we receive payment, we'll remove the agreed material within 14 days. In this calculation, we do not include some direct (and all indirect) expenses we incur in making shoots, including:

Model recruitment costs (costs of advertising and maintaining websites, and processing new model applications)
Infrastructure costs (cloud storage of unedited content; cloud storage of master edit)
Payment admin (cost of bookkeeper to create and get various payments approved)
Bank transfer fees (fees from our bank to send money to the model(s)
Meals (on shoot day for model and shoot partners)
Auxiliary model admin costs (Playdates, Boards postings, gifts, encouragement awards, and similar)
Oversight (overseeing people to ensure they meet our standards, policies and procedures)
Management (creation and maintenance of standards, policies and procedures)
Capital costs (eg, cameras, lenses, lighting, computers, etc)
Insurance (or people, equipment, and property)
Customer VAT (Value Added Tax paid by us to the Dutch Tax Authority. Not passed on to customers)
Administration (general administration for guiding this model through this and other processes)

Option 2: Content removal request review by committee of peers

In a nutshell

You submit your case (what you want done, and why), and pay a fee. A committee of staff and models review and decide what action the Company should take. Content removal is one option, but there are others (for example, limit access of your content in a certain country; you buy the shoots back).

Benefits

Fixed €1,000 fee for the committee hearing. No lawyer necessary.

Drawbacks

Slow (1 to 4 months); effort to prepare your case; you might not get the decision you want; might end up costing you more money.

Details

If you choose this approach, we will provide more details to you on how this process works. We expect you to provide unemotional reasoning as to why you want your material removed, and what specifically you hope to be achieved. We charge you a fee of €1,000 for our time to organise, administer and hold the committee hearing, that's due before the committee hearing occurs - we'll provide you with an invoice. We prepare info we have gathered about you (our file notes on working with you, information about the shoots you have made with us, and so on), and organise a committee of:

A Proponent, who chairs the meeting but is not able to vote
An existing AW model or two
A model who works in the industry, but has not worked with us
Someone you nominate, if you choose, more info
A Shoot Producer, staff member or Contractors from our business who works with models

Together, the Committee reviews the prepared material and your letter. They use an internal framework to make a recommendation on what action the Company should take in this matter. Options include one or a combination of these:

Limiting some or all content access from a specific country
Removing some or all content for a period of time
Delayed release of unreleased material
Make it so non-members cannot see any content until paying
Removal of some specific shoots
Removal of specific media types
Removal of specific images or video footage
Removing boards posts or images
Total and permanent removal without payment
Total and permanent removal with some payment due
Taking no action at all

The committee makes a recommendation to the Board (the Owners and Directors of the company) for approval, who usually approve the recommendation. The model is informed of the decision and if they agree, an Agreement is prepared and signed. There's an appeals process if the model disagrees (but the result of the appeal may be to uphold the committee's recommendation!). The recommended action is taken, and the matter is closed.

Additional content removal considerations

It's possible your content has been "pirated" (that is, stolen from our site, and posted elsewhere on the internet. More info). When this happens, we work aggressively with lawyers to get it removed. We're successful in many cases. If the material is re-posted, we work to get it removed again. If we come to an agreement to remove your material from our site, it will be guaranteed to be removed from abbywinters.com and our business partners ("Affiliates") websites only. We'll continue to work aggressively to get any pirated content removed online regardless of its status on abbywinters.com.

Question 2

What if I want my material removed?

admin · Accepted Answer

Together with you, we make a lot of effort and spend a lot of money to create unique material for our website. We're a business designed to make money, so removing material from our site that makes us money is not our preference! We use the money we make to keep the business running, and use it to pay models to appear in shoots. We also work hard to inform models of the risks of appearing nude online, and models sign a Release (a legally binding contract) to indicate they agree to participate in the shoot and have that shoot online. We understand that circumstances can change. Having your material removed from our website may be a possibility. We take this request seriously, and have a process to handle such requests. Removing your content is not easy, fast or cheap, but it can be done in some cases. Remember that you cannot be blackmailed if you're not ashamed. We have two approaches; you can choose whichever suits you. But first...

Got an emergency? 🚨

If your content on our site is placing you at risk of physical or emotional violence, contact the police! What we do is legal and is nothing to be ashamed about. The police will take your situation seriously. It's fine to connect the police to us, and we'll work with them (and keep you informed). We can arrange for an immediate "content invisibility cloak" for people in dangerous situations. Contact model.application@abbywinters.com with the word "URGENT" in the subject (be sure to check your spam folder for our response). This action is temporary, and is not complete... but it will hide your shoots from casual viewers while we work out a more permanent solution.

Option 1: Content buy-back

In a nutshell

We calculate the total cost to us to create the content, plus the value of the content, then apply a discount based on the age of the content. You pay that to us, we permanently remove the material.

Benefits

Fast - can be done in a week or two.

Drawbacks

Costs a lot of money. Minimum set at €1,000.

Details

The formula for calculating the amount due to the Company has these factors:

Direct costs to create the content
- Where applicable, this will include STI tests for model(s), booking the shoot for model(s), travel of model(s) to the shoot, accommodation of model(s) during the shoot, model fees, shoot-partner fees (and a portion of their travel, if applicable), Shoot Producer fees, paperwork admin fees, video and stills Post Production fees, and Content Admin fees.
Plus, the content's ongoing value to us
- That is, how much we hope to earn from it in the next ~15 years
- We estimate this as the cost of content creation again.
Less, age of content factor
- That is, how much value we estimate to have already earned from it: discounted by 10% for each year the material has been online, to a maximum of 70% (7 years).
Plus VAT
- At 21%, the Dutch VAT rate

This formula is applied to each shoot the model wants removed from the site. For example:

A shoot cost €3,000 to produce in total. €3000 to produce, plus the lifetime value to us (the production cost again, another €3000), so we calculate the total value of the shoot to us on the day it's released was €6,000. The shoot has been online for three years. 10% x 3, for each year the content has been online. €6,000 less 30% equals €4200. We add Dutch VAT of 21%, €882. The model in this example would need to pay €5082 for their content to be removed.

Note that this example is using shoot production costs that may not apply to you. This example is for one shoot - the same formula is applied to each shoot the model has appeared in with us. If the model has appeared in multi-model shoots, the costs of the other models' fees (travel, accom, STI, shoot fees, etc) are also included. Models may choose what shoots to remove - one, some or all. We'll provide a spreadsheet that shows the detailed calculation, along with more information on how each factor is calculated. We aim to be open and transparent in this. We may choose to refuse to remove some shoots (that we deem as being more valuable to our customers and thus to our ongoing success). Once an agreement has been reached, there's an Agreement to sign. We'll issue an invoice. Once we receive payment, we'll remove the agreed material within 14 days. In this calculation, we do not include some direct (and all indirect) expenses we incur in making shoots, including:

Model recruitment costs (costs of advertising and maintaining websites, and processing new model applications)
Infrastructure costs (cloud storage of unedited content; cloud storage of master edit)
Payment admin (cost of bookkeeper to create and get various payments approved)
Bank transfer fees (fees from our bank to send money to the model(s)
Meals (on shoot day for model and shoot partners)
Auxiliary model admin costs (Playdates, Boards postings, gifts, encouragement awards, and similar)
Oversight (overseeing people to ensure they meet our standards, policies and procedures)
Management (creation and maintenance of standards, policies and procedures)
Capital costs (eg, cameras, lenses, lighting, computers, etc)
Insurance (or people, equipment, and property)
Customer VAT (Value Added Tax paid by us to the Dutch Tax Authority. Not passed on to customers)
Administration (general administration for guiding this model through this and other processes)

Option 2: Content removal request review by committee of peers

In a nutshell

You submit your case (what you want done, and why), and pay a fee. A committee of staff and models review and decide what action the Company should take. Content removal is one option, but there are others (for example, limit access of your content in a certain country; you buy the shoots back).

Benefits

Fixed €1,000 fee for the committee hearing. No lawyer necessary.

Drawbacks

Slow (1 to 4 months); effort to prepare your case; you might not get the decision you want; might end up costing you more money.

Details

If you choose this approach, we will provide more details to you on how this process works. We expect you to provide unemotional reasoning as to why you want your material removed, and what specifically you hope to be achieved. We charge you a fee of €1,000 for our time to organise, administer and hold the committee hearing, that's due before the committee hearing occurs - we'll provide you with an invoice. We prepare info we have gathered about you (our file notes on working with you, information about the shoots you have made with us, and so on), and organise a committee of:

A Proponent, who chairs the meeting but is not able to vote
An existing AW model or two
A model who works in the industry, but has not worked with us
Someone you nominate, if you choose, more info
A Shoot Producer, staff member or Contractors from our business who works with models

Together, the Committee reviews the prepared material and your letter. They use an internal framework to make a recommendation on what action the Company should take in this matter. Options include one or a combination of these:

Limiting some or all content access from a specific country
Removing some or all content for a period of time
Delayed release of unreleased material
Make it so non-members cannot see any content until paying
Removal of some specific shoots
Removal of specific media types
Removal of specific images or video footage
Removing boards posts or images
Total and permanent removal without payment
Total and permanent removal with some payment due
Taking no action at all

The committee makes a recommendation to the Board (the Owners and Directors of the company) for approval, who usually approve the recommendation. The model is informed of the decision and if they agree, an Agreement is prepared and signed. There's an appeals process if the model disagrees (but the result of the appeal may be to uphold the committee's recommendation!). The recommended action is taken, and the matter is closed.

Additional content removal considerations

It's possible your content has been "pirated" (that is, stolen from our site, and posted elsewhere on the internet. More info). When this happens, we work aggressively with lawyers to get it removed. We're successful in many cases. If the material is re-posted, we work to get it removed again. If we come to an agreement to remove your material from our site, it will be guaranteed to be removed from abbywinters.com and our business partners ("Affiliates") websites only. We'll continue to work aggressively to get any pirated content removed online regardless of its status on abbywinters.com.