Ariana Grande Says I Won't Get Ripped Off By Photographers

Ariana Grande is laying down the law on concert photographers for a perfectly good reason -- she's been taken advantage of by greedy photogs in the past ... and she's over it.

Sources connected to the "thank u, next" singer tell TMZ ... Ariana's new concert photo policy stems from years of being exploited by a number of photo agencies that would often shoot photos of her in concert ... and then turn around to use those to make a profit.

Here's how it would happen ... we're told Ariana would perform, photogs would take as many pics of her as they wanted ... and then, shortly after, merch she didn't approve of would hit the streets with those photos emblazoned on the items. AG never saw a dime from any of it.

A few examples include calendars, photo books, memorabilia and other items that never got the green light from Ari, or her team.

Our sources say after multiple incidents, she and her camp made the decision to tighten things up in the pit. Of course, the National Press Photographers Association doesn't like this new policy one bit -- which is pretty strict -- but we're told Ariana couldn't care less.

Aside from the new rules she has in place, Ariana and her team also have their own in-house photog, and are happy to distribute whatever photos these publications want ... so long as they're approved by her.

While we're told it was only a handful of bad apples who crossed the line with their photo privileges, it was more than enough for Ariana to switch things up.