Copyright & Legal
Kodak and
WENN Digital, in a licensing partnership, have announced the launch of the KODAKOne image rights management platform utilizing blockchain technology and KODAKCoin, a photo-centric cryptocurrency to empower photographers and agencies to take greater control in image rights management.
Copytrack, the German organization that tracks use of images on the Internet and then pursues infringers when an unauthorized use is discovered has announced that its “blockchain powered copyright registry and enforcement platform is preparing the enter the second round of the crowdsale” as a way of raising revenue for future expansion.
Most commercial users want to be honest. They don’t set out to steal. They certainly don’t want to be chased by a photographer and his/her legal team once it is discovered that they have used an image without permission. If photographers want to license more images to professional users – and get better prices – then they must make it easier for customers to find them once the customers finds an image they would like to use. The process is easy enough if the customer finds the image on a stock agency website, but more and more customers are finding the images they would like to use by searching Google, Bing, Flickr or by randomly searching Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, other social media sites or various publications.
The European Parliament is debating new legislation that could require Facebook, Google, Twitter and other major players to share some of the advertising revenue they earn from making the information produced and supplied by major European press agencies available to readers for free.
A judge published a verdict on November 28, 2017 in the District Court of North Hoilland that could dramatically change the meaning of copyright in the Netherlands, if it is upheld. Masterfile and Mediapro, its representative in the Netherlands, had brought a case against a website operator who had used a Masterfile distributed photo of a “clear close-up of a temperature gauge of a car.” The photo was used without permission and no payment was made by the website operator to Masterfile
When potential customers see one of your images they would like to use can they find you or your representative. More and more image users are finding the images they would like to use by searching Google or Bing. They also stumble on images that would be perfect for their next project while searching Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and other social media sites.
There have been many articles published about how the Copyright Small Claims Bill, H.R. 3945, entitled, the “Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2017” (the “CASE Act”) will benefit image creators. Here is a
link to an excellent article that may make it easier for photographers to understand exactly how the Act will benefit them.
A bipartisan solution to help artists, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, songwriters, authors and other creators protect their life’s work from unauthorized reproduction has been introduced by U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), a Democrat, and U.S. Representative Tom Marino (PA-10), a Republican, both members of the members of the House Judiciary Committee.
Effective October 1, 2017 a new French law obliges clients who use commercial images in France to disclose whether the body shape of a model has been retouched to make the individual look thinner or larger.
ImageRights International, the global leader in copyright enforcement services for photo agencies and professional photographers has launched a dedicated
copyright registration service. For the first time, any photographer or agency can register their images with the United States Copyright Office through ImageRights highly efficient and precise copyright service. Previously, only ImageRights members had access to the service.
The District Court of the Southern District of New York, in the case of
Archie MD, Inc. v. Elsevier, Inc., recently clarified the standard by which a copyright registration may be considered valid despite containing inaccurate information.
It is no longer necessary to take pictures in order to win photo contest. Photographers who share their images on public domain sites are sometimes surprised to learn that others have taken their images, entered them in photo contests and won awards.
Everyday Copytrack is confronted with the question from their users of how they can protect their images. Despite there being no one method that completely protects image online, we suggest other tools and ways that reduce the chances of image theft. Here are the simplest to the most complex methods for image protection as presented by
Copytrack.
A couple weeks ago
we reported that Google researchers had found a way to remove the watermarks used by most stock photographer and stock photography sites. To protect their watermarks Shutterstock engineers have designed a “watermark randomizer” that adds subtle inconsistencies to its marks, ensuring each one is a little different and making them difficult for Google to remove.
Researchers at Google have found a vulnerability in the way watermarks are used by stock imagery sites like Adobe Stock that makes it possible to remove the opaque stamp used to protect copyright.
Increasingly, image creators are turning to online service providers to provide assistance and support in pursuing copyright abuse.
Copytrack is seeing rising customer demand in both Japan and the U.S. Marcus Schmitt, Copytrack CEO, attributes the heightened demand to the Berlin-based portal’s strong international involvement in Asian and US congresses, and associations, such as
Japan Professional Photographer Society and the
Digital Media Licensing Association in New York.
Stock photographers looking for a way to make some extra money might want to take a look at this
article from the National Law Review. The Law Review argues that law firms need to consistently update their attorney portraits on their websites because “prospective clients may use them to form a first impression” of the law firm.
Photographers living in the New York Metro Area who have evidence of a copyright infringement of their work may want to check out
this opportunity for free legal assistance in pursuing their case.
There is increased demand for real, authentic photos, not set up shots using professional models. Many photographers grabbing these “authentic” photos on holiday, or as they go about their daily lives, ignore some of the legal hassles that can arise as a result of trying to license use to such images.
ImageRights International, the global leader in copyright enforcement services for photo agencies and professional photographers, today announced the acquisition of Australia’s Image Witness, whose rapid scan image search technology fortifies ImageRights’ technology leadership position in the fast-growing copyright enforcement services industry.
The European Commission, which polices European Union competition rules, has imposed a €2.42 billion euros (
$2.72 Billion) fine on Google for breaching antitrust rules with its online shopping service. The ruling alleges that "Google has abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service." Google was given 90 days to stop or face fines of up to 5 percent of the average daily worldwide turnover of parent company Alphabet.
Photographers represented by the Photoshot in the United Kingdom tell me that they are having trouble getting responses to their emails and there has been no payment for a long time.
According to a survey conducted by the European CEPIC industry association, 85% of the images found by visual search systems are illegal copies. 80% of these illegal images were distributed through search engines like the Google image search.
A meeting between Google Germany and the German Association of Picture Agencies,
BVPA is set for May 9, 2017 in Google’s Berlin office. On Thursday, May 11, 2017 the French trade association of "online content publishers",
GESTE, has called their members to a "working meeting" to look into the impact on traffic of the new features of Google Images on the websites of GESTE's members. Reports of both meetings will be available on
CEPIC.org.
If you think nothing ever happens in Congress, you’re wrong! On April 26th the U.S. House of Representatives passed
H.R. 1695, a bill that proposes making the Register of Copyrights a Presidential appointee, confirmed by the Senate. This is a first step toward modernizing the U.S. Copyright Office.