Vivozoom Tries To Combat Image Theft

Posted on 9/18/2009 by Fern Siegel | Printable Version | Comments (2)

Vivozoom, the microstock business, calculates that the practice of stealing stock and microstock images totals as much as $10 billion annually. Vivozoom hopes to end the abuse by setting a standard for protecting both purchasers and photographers by legally defending any customer for damages and costs totaling up to $25,000. According to PicScout, which uses image-recognition technology to track content on the Internet, some 85% of the rights-managed images detected on commercial Web sites are misused, as reported by customers over the last seven years. Lawrence Gould, co-founder and CEO of Vivozoom, blames the ease of online access, "through tools like Google Images," which are "challenging the concept of image copyright. ... people may not realize that there is a cost associated with the use of some images."


Copyright © 2009 Fern Siegel. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Comments

  • Robert Harding Posted Sep 18, 2009
    If the whole of the industry's annual revenue amounts to somewhere around 2 billion, this would mean that 5 times more images are used illegally than those properly purchased. I just dont believe it.

  • Gerard Fritz Posted Sep 18, 2009
    It was brought to my attention that one of my images was being illegally used on a website. When I went to that website to see for myself, sure enough, there it was...and while I was there I saw a 2nd image being used! I am sure it happens a lot.

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