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.
Another, more detailed factor that increased the app’s international popularity, was the ability for users to operate the app in more languages. To support the international demand Copytrack not only has an office in Berlin, but has also set up offices in New York and Tokyo.
Despite Copytrack’s strong presence in Europe the company had to earn the trust of other markets. Schmitt admits that when they started in the US there was skepticism about using a European provider. However, this steady rise of trust continues and has made Copytrack one of the lead players in the new markets. “There was huge interest and willingness to use our app in the beginning because use of our image search is completely free. Word got around after that.” Stressed Schmitt.
In the US, the enforcement success rate stands at 70 percent. Copytrack noted, that unlike in Europe, the portal makes out-of-court settlements, primarily, after first contact from our US based partner lawyers.
Japan is another success for the Copytrack team. Three major Japanese image agencies signed with Copytrack in reaction to China being a threat to image rights. Schmitt attributes their success in Japan to the fact that Japanese users can access the website, and use the app in their mother tongue. He also notes that due to the Japanese culture, the opponents there are more willing to pay meaning Copytrack can easily settle claims.
Despite the major growth in Japan and the U.S., Europe remains the strongest market for Copytrack with a staggering 95 percent successful enforcement rate.
Some legal processes in individual areas such as European Law, ease the legal enforcement process compared to other countries. Within Europe Copytrack finds that cases in central Europe and North Europe tend to be more successful than those in Southern Europe. “Due to our credited reputation in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom our high success rate is incomparable. As a result of our success, we know exactly what our objective in other markets are,” concludes Markus Schmitt.
Copytrack currently employs around 25 people from legal, IT, customer service and finance. The service supports photographers, publishers, image agencies and e-commerce providers.
Images are found with a 98% accuracy. Customers then determine if the image has been used without a license and can even determine the amount of subsequent fees by using an automatic license calculator on the portal. Copytrack is fully responsible for an out-of-court solution in over 140 countries as well as a legal solution in the areas relevant to copyright law. When an image is successfully licensed, the rights holder receives up to 70 percent of the agreed sum. The pure search function is free of charge.