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Copytrack Publishes Global Infringement Report
4 April 2019
Copytrack has published its Global Infringement Report 2019 analyzing online image theft worldwide. Of the three billion images shared online each day, he company said, around 85 percent are unlicensed, with estimated revenue lost at more than $600 million daily.
Infringement. Copyright infringement on images by continent.
Prepared with the company's proprietary Web site crawlers that track illegal image use, Copytrack ran statistical analyses on more than 12,000 Copytrack user profiles. The Copytrack Global Infringement Report summarizes these results studied between December 2017 to December 2018.
The report cites infringement stats by continent, country and city, among other metrics.
"Fortunately, even after image theft has taken place, photographers and other rights-holders can still file claims for fair compensation with Copytrack," said Marcus Schmitt, Copytrack CEO.
Consulting an attorney is always a good plan and the National VLA Directory lists Volunteer Layers and Accountants for the Arts in each state.
A PDF of the report is a free download. For more information see the news release below.
Copytrack Announces Global Infringement Report 2019
Three Billion Images Are Shared Daily Online & Around 85 percent are Unlicensed with Estimated Revenue Lost at More than $600 Million Daily
BERLIN, Germany -- Copytrack has published its Global Infringement Report analyzing online image theft worldwide. Prepared with Copytrack's proprietary Web site crawlers that track illegal image use, Copytrack ran statistical analyses on more than 12,000 Copytrack user profiles. The Copytrack Global Infringement Report summarizes these results studied between December 2017 to December 2018.
Every day countless images are used all over the Internet, many of which are stolen. Studies by Copytrack show that of the three billion images shared online each day, around 85 percent are unlicensed, with estimated revenue lost at more than $600 million daily. Many people don't know that the use of others' images is often a violation of copyright law. This unauthorized image use hurts photographers and rights-holders who lose considerable revenues. To raise awareness for the magnitude of online image theft, Copytrack investigated where and how most online image theft takes place.
Most Frequent Global Image Theft Offenders by Continent
In terms of image theft by continent, North America, the world's third largest continent, is the most frequent offender, with 33.90 percent of illegal image use. Europe is the second most infringing continent with 31.40 percent and Asia follows closely behind in third place with 29.38 percent.
Image Theft by Country
Copytrack's country-level comparison reveals that the U.S. is the world leader in image theft with 22.96 percent worldwide. This comes as no surprise, given the size of the country and the sheer number of Web sites that operate there. Less obvious, however, is that Panama, a country with only four million inhabitants, comes in at second with 6.76 percent. This anomaly is likely the result of "Privacy Protection Services," a provider that registers third-party domains to Panama to mask the real owners' personal information. China, considered by many to be the world leader in copying, comes in third place with a surprisingly small 6.57 percent -- unexpected considering China boasts a population three times the size of the U.S.
Even After Image Theft, Photographers & Other Rights-holders can Still File Claims for Fair Compensation In addition to studying all continents and countries, Copytrack's comprehensive Global Infringement Report also studied top infringing cities, Internet penetration, domains and most stolen images sizes. The report shows that photographs and pictures are used illicitly and at a massive scale in nearly every country on earth, despite increased efforts by Google, Yahoo and others to identify rights holders. "Fortunately, even after image theft has taken place, photographers and other rights-holders can still file claims for fair compensation with Copytrack. Copytrack's service exists for this very reason and helps rights-holders enforce their image rights without the need of much effort or financial risk," said Marcus Schmitt, Copytrack CEO.