Rules for MFC and Leaving Studio

[Ariel11]

Hi,

I am considering working with a "studio" on MFC. My question is, if I decide to work with the studio and then end the relationship and work independently, am I allowed to create an Independent Model account on MFC right away?

I have heard that on other sites you are not allowed to do this (they make you wait a long amount of time, etc.). Can anybody please tell me if MFC studio models are allowed to transfer to Independent Models right away if things don't work out with their studio?

I have tried emailing MFC Admin, but they haven't got back to me. Maybe because I am not registered as a Model there.

If someone knows the true answer to this (not just guessing and leading me in the wrong direction), or can post a link to evidence of some of these rules, that would be so great!

Thanks to everyone who helps answer this question

 

[AliciaLeigh]

I have been able to switch from a studio to independent on Streamate fairly easily, but I have an amazing account rep who understands my situation. I've tried to make the same change on MFC but they have not responded to the half-a-dozen e-mails I have sent them nor responded when I tried to create a new account.

What will the studio on MFC do for you that you can't do for yourself? I mean, I assume they're going to take a % of your earnings. So, what will you get in return?

 

[Ariel11]

Kitty, thank you for responding to my post.

In return, I would get photo sets and videos to sell in exchange for tokens. They claim there are social media promotion aspects, but that's easy and I can do it myself. If when you tried to make an independent account for yourself on MFC and uploaded your documentation again, it was rejected? I just want to make sure I understand clearly.

I am considering signing up with the studio because they do offer some legitimate services...However, if there is no way I can ever "get out" of the situation and work on my own if they turn out to rip me off or something, I think it is just better to hire my own photographers, etc. out of pocket and keep the percentage difference for myself....

Please, if any other ladies have had an experience with either being rejected/accepted for moving from Studio to Independent on MFC, please post.

Many thanks to all you ladies in advance for your help :hello2:

 

[AllisonWilder]

I'd say bypass the studio and just sign up independently. You don't really even need professional photographers -- sure, some girls have professional photo sets and they're great, but they also have a lot of amateur stuff that they shoot themselves. Videos are really easy to make on your own and it's easy to just record your own shows, which I imagine is the route the studio will go anyways.

You found this forum and the models only section is filled with a bunch of ladies that range from incredibly experienced to newbies and there's great advice for everyone. There's just no reason (unless you're going to be working in a physical studio that provides your equipment as well as pictures and videos) that you should let a bunch of people you don't know take a percentage of your income when you have the tools already at your disposal here.

 

[Ariel11]

Thank you Allison,

Thank you for your opinion about studios. I was just wondering if people could please respond to whether or not it is possible for Models to quit working with Studios and then later start an account as an Independent Model. I have tried gaining information on this, but I have been unsuccessful through model support at MFC.

Thank you so much for writing a response. However, at this point I am only seeking an answer to the portion of the question as specified above.

If there is anyone else out there who has an experience regarding being accepted/rejected as an Independent Model after quitting working with a studio, please let me know. Thanks ladies in advance!

 

[NoelleBright]

Thank you Allison,

Thank you for your opinion about studios. I was just wondering if people could please respond to whether or not it is possible for Models to quit working with Studios and then later start an account as an Independent Model. I have tried gaining information on this, but I have been unsuccessful through model support at MFC.

Thank you so much for writing a response. However, at this point I am only seeking an answer to the portion of the question as specified above.

If there is anyone else out there who has an experience regarding being accepted/rejected as an Independent Model after quitting working with a studio, please let me know. Thanks ladies in advance!

I have never done it but yes it is possible to do with MFC.
However, I think this is more an issue of the contract you're going to be signing with the studio than with MFC. MFC will let you sign up as an independent model, the issue really lies in what's stated in your studio contract. Read it carefully, there's usually a rule about the length of time you have to wait between quitting with them and signing up for a solo account, and it usually isn't a short amount of time either.
Legally, I'm not sure what kind of ground they have to stand on or if they would even legitimately come after someone who they caught breaking this rule, but it's something to consider.

Also something to consider is that once you quit with them, the videos/photos will remain their property. As in, once you leave you will no longer be able to sell them on your own. So if you're joining a studio in an effort to produce high quality photos and video that you may not be able to make on your own, once you leave the studio they will probably no longer be available to you.

 

[UncleThursday]

Thank you Allison,

Thank you for your opinion about studios. I was just wondering if people could please respond to whether or not it is possible for Models to quit working with Studios and then later start an account as an Independent Model. I have tried gaining information on this, but I have been unsuccessful through model support at MFC.

Thank you so much for writing a response. However, at this point I am only seeking an answer to the portion of the question as specified above.

If there is anyone else out there who has an experience regarding being accepted/rejected as an Independent Model after quitting working with a studio, please let me know. Thanks ladies in advance!

I have never done it but yes it is possible to do with MFC.
However, I think this is more an issue of the contract you're going to be signing with the studio than with MFC. MFC will let you sign up as an independent model, the issue really lies in what's stated in your studio contract. Read it carefully, there's usually a rule about the length of time you have to wait between quitting with them and signing up for a solo account, and it usually isn't a short amount of time either.
Legally, I'm not sure what kind of ground they have to stand on or if they would even legitimately come after someone who they caught breaking this rule, but it's something to consider.

Also something to consider is that once you quit with them, the videos/photos will remain their property. As in, once you leave you will no longer be able to sell them on your own. So if you're joining a studio in an effort to produce high quality photos and video that you may not be able to make on your own, once you leave the studio they will probably no longer be available to you.

Noelle is correct. Many studios require some form of non-compete contract to be signed when hiring models. This is basically so that if the model becomes popular, she can't just decide to drop the studio and keep whatever the studio kept for themselves for their part (promotion, place to cam, whatever they did) and go independent. These contracts are normally a year and a day after leaving the studio (either by choice or not). By making this time so long, it makes it prohibitive for models to leave the studio... especially if camming is their only source of income.

As to the legality? I'm not sure. It's very possible such non-compete contracts would be quickly overturned. But the spectre of the contract violation lawsuit is always there. And even if the contract is deemed invalid, the cost of going through the courts is enough to keep many models in studios from trying to fight the contracts.

Also, as Noelle said, the studio would be the owners of the copyright on the photos and videos they would help you make and that you could then sell. So, even if you left them, that content would not legally be the model's to sell on her own. It would be copyright violation if she tried. Possibly also breach of contract since the photos/videos would potentially be included in the contract.

I would follow Allison's suggestion and just forego the studio altogether if you have the equipment to cam at home (decent computer, high speed internet, decent webcam). Models can do all sorts of amateur photo shoots that can turn out very nice with today's digital cameras. The same with videos using a decent HD webcam. There's really no need for studios, unless you don't have the equipment and they're going to provide it and/or a place to cam. Especially if you are in North America or Western Europe. In these cases, most of the "studios" end up being "management firms" that really do very little to help their "clients" out, and just take a cut of the earnings.

There are some brick and mortar (for lack of a better term) studios in NA and WE, though, but not many. These are real physical studios where the models go to cam. The rest are normally some dude at a computer offering help in exchange for a high percentage of the model's earnings, without really doing anything that a brick and mortar studio does.

 

[dustinxxxizzle]

My reg model has two accounts, one her own and the other a studio account. She actually went from the studio account, to a newly created regular account and has recently went back to the studio account. Not sure if she had any behind the scenes trouble with that or not, but seems that it is possible anyway.

 

[OverFlower]

I asked a model who made the switch a few months ago. When she started her new account, she thought her account had been terminated by her studio because she could no longer access it.
After she saw that her account had been logged in to by someone else, she contacted mfc asking them to kill off the old account so it would not be recycled or otherwise used improperly (by mistake of course :whistle: ) by the studio.
I think they quickly compared IDs between the two accounts, and within 24 hours the old account was gone. Faster than it took to get the new account started.
This is about the technical part on MFC. About the agreement between the studio and you, that's a different story, and I have no idea how that works.

 

[SoTxBob]

Since the contractual aspect between girl and studio has been addressed sufficiently .... I wonder why MFC doesn't actively delete reused studio accounts more often? I'm sure those of us that follow studio girls have all seen when a completely new face and name have appeared in our list and wondered who it was. I know several studios in the EU that reuse accounts very routinely. Sometimes they save and reuse the old CS as well to get a better placement. :naughty:

 

[CandiBooXO]

Thank you Allison,

Thank you for your opinion about studios. I was just wondering if people could please respond to whether or not it is possible for Models to quit working with Studios and then later start an account as an Independent Model. I have tried gaining information on this, but I have been unsuccessful through model support at MFC.

Thank you so much for writing a response. However, at this point I am only seeking an answer to the portion of the question as specified above.

If there is anyone else out there who has an experience regarding being accepted/rejected as an Independent Model after quitting working with a studio, please let me know. Thanks ladies in advance!

I actually just left a studio and re-started on MFC. They were great about it and I set up my new account and ended the other in a matter of a few days. The only bitch about it was having to start over with cam score and contacting previous regulars to let them know where I was. You can't use the same name, either so that's a bummer. I am happy I'm independent now, though, I simply make more money for the tokens I earn which is great.

 

[Evvie]

Since the contractual aspect between girl and studio has been addressed sufficiently .... I wonder why MFC doesn't actively delete reused studio accounts more often? I'm sure those of us that follow studio girls have all seen when a completely new face and name have appeared in our list and wondered who it was. I know several studios in the EU that reuse accounts very routinely. Sometimes they save and reuse the old CS as well to get a better placement. :naughty:

Why should a studio have to create a brand new account for every model? As long as the models are registered with MFC, there is really no point in abandoning old high-scored accounts to create new ones out of principal. When you see that a studio account is featuring a new model, it seems pretty easy to just unfriend the account.

 

[MyCamgirl]

Since the contractual aspect between girl and studio has been addressed sufficiently .... I wonder why MFC doesn't actively delete reused studio accounts more often? I'm sure those of us that follow studio girls have all seen when a completely new face and name have appeared in our list and wondered who it was. I know several studios in the EU that reuse accounts very routinely. Sometimes they save and reuse the old CS as well to get a better placement. :naughty:

Why should a studio have to create a brand new account for every model? As long as the models are registered with MFC, there is really no point in abandoning old high-scored accounts to create new ones out of principal. When you see that a studio account is featuring a new model, it seems pretty easy to just unfriend the account.

Can models/studios re-submit documents/contract? If they can't, then recycling accounts is kind of a problem. MFC would have no documents of the new girl(s) and this would create a 2257 issue.

 

[Evvie]

Since the contractual aspect between girl and studio has been addressed sufficiently .... I wonder why MFC doesn't actively delete reused studio accounts more often? I'm sure those of us that follow studio girls have all seen when a completely new face and name have appeared in our list and wondered who it was. I know several studios in the EU that reuse accounts very routinely. Sometimes they save and reuse the old CS as well to get a better placement. :naughty:

Why should a studio have to create a brand new account for every model? As long as the models are registered with MFC, there is really no point in abandoning old high-scored accounts to create new ones out of principal. When you see that a studio account is featuring a new model, it seems pretty easy to just unfriend the account.

Can models/studios re-submit documents/contract? If they can't, then recycling accounts is kind of a problem. MFC would have no documents of the new girl(s) and this would create a 2257 issue.

You can indeed upload brand-new documents, and as far as I know, you can continue to do it for as long as you like. I'm not sure how it works with studio accounts, but I would be surprised if MFC didn't have a system in place to allow studios to easily re-use accounts.