Find Out Where Your Photos Are Being Illegally Used on the Internet
Several years ago, I was flipping through the home page of a large magazine and saw a photo I took in the middle of its home page. It was a distinctive photo of a surprised Mark Zuckerberg that I took at a press conference. Where I was sitting when I took the picture, and my luck to catch him at the very moment when he took that face, made this picture one of a kind. I knew it was mine and I knew I hadn’t given the magazine permission to use it.
I posted a photo along with a story I wrote a few months earlier. It looks like the author of the magazine story (or someone along the way) just did a Google search for a photo of Tsuk, stumbled upon an amazing photo of mine and brought it up to use, not believing it wasn’t entirely legal. …
I came across the stolen photo by accident. This was something I could easily miss. One site, Pixsy , addresses this problem by tracking your photos and where they appear on the web. Better yet, when he discovers that your image has been used without your permission, he tries to get you compensation.
The way it works is pretty simple: you tell Pixsy which photos you want to track, and it will let you know when it finds a match somewhere. If this match was not sanctioned by you, you can send an automatic and legally binding notice of removal to the offender. If you are seeking compensation from the natural or legal person who stole your work, the site will also do it for you.
One photographer says Pixie got him $ 1,400 for one copyright infringement and $ 5,000 for another . When the site gets paid for you, it charges 50%. It seems like a lot, but he also takes care of all legal costs and prepares all the paperwork. Considering that all you have to do is raise cash, this is not the worst deal.
The service is free for monitoring up to 500 images. You will have to pay for deletion notices, but you will receive unlimited free claims. If you have a ton of shots that you want to track, or are planning to submit multiple shots that require a stop and abstinence, then it comes at a low cost. Plans start at $ 19 a month for 2,000 images and 20 deletion notifications, and go up to $ 89 per month for 100,000 photos and 900 deletion notifications. However, the more expensive plans are designed more for professional photographers and will pay off the first time you need the service to get compensation.