There are a number of copyright infringement chasing service companies rattling around the industry at the moment all wanting a piece of the copyright pie but here at PAN we like an agency who tackle the issue head on for their contributing photographers.
The Mega Agency have done just that and they’ve given it a name Mega Image Police (MIP).
MIP is a new service to fight widespread copyright infringement say Mega – ‘We have launched the scheme to tackle serial infringers who publish premium content with complete disregard for the rights of the copyright holder.’ “Mega Image Police has been created to stand up and fight for the legal rights of our valuable loyal contributors who are sick and tired of their work being stolen,” said Mega President Kevin Smith. For too long photographers have fallen victim to copyright infringement by people and companies who are quite simply thieves. We are determined to clamp down on this practice and punish those that steal content while also sending a message to those thinking of infringing – don’t do it. Today we are launching a unique service that has been designed to protect the content of our loyal contributors. This will not cost photographers a penny – but the compensation for the recovery of stolen assets could quickly add up.”
How it works: Mega revealed they had created automated workflows to simplify and speed up the process of tackling thousands of infringements across all media platforms. Photographers are alerted to particular sets that have likely been stolen and the process of registering the copyright is done via electronic signature. A lot of agencies have pursued claims on behalf of photographers with varying degrees of success. What makes Mega’s approach different is that we set out to make this process as simple and efficient as possible for both the contributors and the legal firms who will be working on our behalf. Our systems can quickly check if an image has been licensed or not. If we have no record of a transaction or payment then legal action can potentially proceed straight away. “In a short space of time Mega’s technology has spotted countless infringements and are in the process of collecting from those who have used our content without permission.