PicRights
Unterdorfstrasse 12, 8808 Pfäffikon, Switzerland, Freienbach
+43 720 227455
picrights.com
Finest experts in copyright trolling and extortion Sadly this seem to be a legit company engaging in extortion and intimidation. Their business model is based on the parasitism of the worst kind. In some instances they dont even represent the copyright owner, they just trawl the internet using AI targeting small publishers- majority of which use the images under the 'fair use' provision. if you have used your images in this way best to ignore them or block them as this would never stand up in any court according to the advice I got from the legal experts. They either have no in depth knowledge of copyright laws or they do but rely solely on intimidation and extortion tactics. They wanted over €700 for an image that costs €20 covering perpetuity rights for fair use across different websites. Dear Monica Berg you know how the saying about karma goes, wouldn't want to be near you when the day of reckoning comes.
If they contact you, report the extortion attempt to the police! In Italy and Norway similar companies have already been heavily fined, in the USA the courts are disbarring lawyers who engaged in these practices. DO NOT BELIEVE IN SCAMS: do not pay blackmail and extortion, because: 1- IT IS THEY who have to demonstrate that they are legally authorized to make the request, by law they have to show in court a mass of documents that they don't even know (they are not lawyers so they cannot make any legal request, they can only try to scare you) 2- THEY have to prove that they are the owners of the rights to the photo, NOT YOU. If I accuse someone of theft, I will be the accuser who will have to prove it IN COURT, I cannot first ask for money and then prove that I was robbed. 3- A legal request sent with this type of email is as good as spam that promises "hot women just for you near your home" or emails from "African United Nations officials" who want to give you 1 million dollars They count on the fact that out of 100 requests, there will always be 2 or 3 naive people who pay in fear
Many accounts and testimonials of false claims / or very unreasonable prices of this company (PicRights). Not in line with the market, not trustworthy. Companies like these should be severely punished.
We have personally verified that the PicsRights office listed in Bergamo, at Via Sant'Orsola 9, has no doorbell, license plate, or signage attributable to the company. Furthermore, using Google Street View, we found that several of the listed offices are located in shops or at intersections, which is, to say the least, unusual for a company of this type. Given these findings, we believe it is appropriate to pursue legal action, as the documentation provided is unclear and payment is requested without issuing a proper invoice, but only with a receipt. A review of the UK company register also reveals that PicsRights UK has no employees. Even if this were an illicit operation, similar to a scam, the structure appears to be extremely sophisticated and well-organized.
ATTENTION: SCAMMERS! Report them to the postal police and the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM). They have NO authority to solicit money. This is the legal response: With Order No. 30304, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), published in Bulletin No. 35 of October 3, 2022, sanctioned the unfair commercial practices implemented by Photoclaim, one of the many companies operating with the same method. Specifically, Article 90 of the aforementioned law establishes specific requirements that copies of "protected" photographs must meet. They must contain the following information (Court of Naples, Ruling No. 2573/2023, published on March 9, 2023): The name of the photographer or, in the case provided for in the first paragraph of Article 88, of the photographer's company or client; The date of production of the photograph; The name of the author of the photographed artwork. Therefore, if you receive a request for payment once you have verified that the image is indeed present in the supplier's archives, remove the image from the site as a precaution. Termination of use, at least under Italian law, is more than sufficient to protect the rights associated with the image, considering that the case referred to in Article 90, paragraph 2 of Law No. 633/1941 does not apply. This provision provides that when photographs do not bear the indications required by paragraph 1, their reproduction cannot be considered unauthorized and the compensation referred to in Article 91 is not due, unless the interested party proves the reproducer's bad faith.
I have received a payment request from Picrights following alleged unauthorized use of images. I strongly advise against paying any sum. Numerous online reports indicate that Picrights may be using aggressive and deceptive practices to obtain payments, sending standardized and threatening requests even for minor copyright infringements. In Order No. 30304, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), published in Bulletin No. 35 of October 3, 2022, fined Photoclaim, one of many companies operating using the same method, for unfair commercial practices.