Flickr announced on Tuesday that they are partnering with Pixsy, a company that uses artificial intelligence to monitor images and alert users of potential copyright infringement and offers legal recourse.
VP of product for Flickr, Andrew Stadlen on the partnership states, “We want our photographers to feel comfortable sharing their work online. We offer clear controls for privacy and copyright, and we stand by our photographers in asserting their rights.”
The partnership benefits Flickr Pro users, who can now have up to 1,000 images monitored for free. In addition, Pro membership now includes 10 legally binding takedown notices and unlimited case submissions for further legal action. These case submissions work on a “we don’t get paid unless you do” basis so users have access to a full legal team to actually do something about the infringement. Although it is worth noting here that the photographer only keeps 50% of the settlement.
According to Pixsy, 85% of images uploaded online are used without proper permissions. With over 38 million images currently being monitored and 36,000 users, Pixsy has worked over 70,000 copyright infringement cases since its launch in 2014. Remember that storm photo from the show Stranger Things that Netflix was sued for copyright infringement last year? Pixsy helped photographer Sean Heavey with that.
There’s good news if you are interested in monitoring but don’t have a Flickr Pro account, you can sign up for a free account through Pixsy and have 500 images monitored for free. They also have different pricing plans depending on your need.
It’s nice to know that as a photographer we do have affordable legal recourse for our work and that companies like Flickr are taking action towards that.
Lead photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels.