COPYTRACK Reviews 781

I have licensed images from Freepik, and still, they sent us a notice for copyright violation. They don't understand that a reputable company will not use stolen images from another website.

As a professional photographer, I feel compelled to respond to comments like the one from CUSTOMER, COR S ...etc, which unfortunately misrepresent the reality of how copyright and image licensing truly work.

Years ago, many of my works thousands of images were illegally uploaded and resold under someone else’s name on stock platforms such as Shutterstock, iStock, Dreamstime, 123RF, Alamy, Canva Pro, and later even appeared on Adobe Stock. I was a direct victim of this fraudulent practice. My images were distributed without my consent, and people who thought they had “legitimate licenses” were in fact misled by individuals who never had the rights to sell them. These images had been stolen from me and from CONCEPT-PRODUCTION, who at that time was selling complete packs of thousands of themed images.

It was thanks to CONCEPT-PRODUCTION and their collaboration with Copytrack that these stolen images were eventually removed and the fraudulent sellers were banned from those platforms. From personal experience, I can confirm that their process is entirely legal, based on concrete evidence, and backed by legal experts. Without their intervention, many of us photographers would still be losing control of our own intellectual property.

When I read claims that CONCEPT-PRODUCTION is making “false copyright claims,” I can only say this is completely untrue. In my case, they defended my work when it had been stolen, and I have since become one of their official distributors. Today, I license my images transparently under my own name, always respecting their distribution policies.

One important point that many people miss: CONCEPT-PRODUCTION does not sell images the same way most individual photographers do. They only sold large thematic packs of a minimum of 1,000 images per collection. Many photographers, myself included, purchased these packs in the past. But when unauthorized resellers later uploaded parts of those packs piece by piece on stock platforms, it led to countless disputes. That is precisely why CONCEPT-PRODUCTION decided to stop selling these packs, which can still be seen on their website but are no longer available for purchase.

I also know many other photographers who faced the same issues: their works ended up on sites like Pexels or Adobe Stock under someone else’s name, sometimes even offered for free. I personally had to take legal action until the impersonator who had misused my work finally disappeared.

So, when someone like CUSTOMER, COR S ...etc or others quickly labels CONCEPT-PRODUCTION or Copytrack as “fraudulent,” they completely overlook the real fraud: the unauthorized resale and misuse of content by people who are not the rightful owners. Only courts and recognized legal entities can determine true ownership, and Copytrack works precisely within this legal framework to protect creators.

My advice is simple: don’t be misled by those who claim they are being “scammed.” If you receive a claim, investigate carefully and understand that the presence of an image on a stock platform does not automatically mean it was licensed legitimately. Sometimes the “actual photographers” listed are themselves victims of identity theft and misuse just as I was.

I stand firmly with CONCEPT-PRODUCTION and Copytrack because I have lived this reality. They are not scammers; they are allies for photographers whose works have been stolen and misused.

I would also like to emphasize that I am a well-known professional in the creative and stock image industry, with years of proven activity. This is actually the very first time in my life that I chose to publicly share my opinion about a company, something I had never done before.

I recently received an “authorisation request” from Copytrack (now RD Legal GmbH) claiming I had used an image without a licence. Their first email immediately quoted hundreds of euros and warned of legal enforcement through their partner lawyers — despite having provided no proof that their client, CONCEPT‑PRODUCTION, even holds exclusive rights to the image.

I removed the image as a goodwill measure, but I have repeatedly asked them to produce proper evidence:

1. A chain of title or assignment proving CONCEPT‑PRODUCTION actually owns or controls the copyright (from the original photographer or Adobe/Fotolia).

2. Proof that Copytrack/RD Legal is legally authorised to enforce those rights.

To date, they have produced none of this, yet continue to maintain their compensation figures, which are supposedly “based on loss suffered, lost profits and investigation costs” but come with no factual breakdown or supporting data.

I have now given them a formal deadline (8 August 2025) to provide this evidence. If they fail and continue to send unsubstantiated demands, I will consider the threats groundless under UK law (Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Section 253) and reserve the right to pursue a counter‑claim for harassment and groundless threats.

Advice to others: If you receive similar demands, do not panic or pay blindly. Ask for proof of exclusive rights and enforcement authority first — the burden of proof is on them, not you. Unjustified threats can be challenged, and you are entitled to a proper evidentiary breakdown before even considering any payment.

Claimed we had used a client of theirs picture.
It is still available on Shutterstock.

Received now the fourth request for money from this German company for supposed infringement of copyright, on a picture i have license to or am not responsible for. This is an automated process without human oversight that I think does not match the upcoming AI act.

Extortionists who attempt to shake down bloggers for using licenced images.

Copytrack harass and bully publishers over use of images, who often have perfectly valid licenses. Even where use has infringed, fees demanded to regularise use are extortionate, quite out of proportion to any loss suffered. This is extortion; as close to a scam as you can get.

I received one of their infringement notices for a public domain image. Like many others have written, they have everything backwards. They have the burden of proof, not me. I told them to gf themselves. I work with IP and I find this aggregious

Copytrack sends threatening communications and should be investigated by the authorities in Germany and beyond for their harassment of law-abiding businesses. With no prior research, Copytrack send threats of legal action based on scammy content producers' attempts to gain a few extra dollars from people who legitimately have licenses, but who are scared by the legal wording of their comms.

Aggressive, rude and actually WRONG we have fully licensed stock photos from CANVA they they claim for their client
SCAMMERS

Copytrack doesn't do their research. Yayimages makes fake claims on photos that are either free from Creative Commons OR they stole from Istock. Most of us have subscriptions to get a license from places such as canva.com. When you tell Copytrack that they want a valid license number, problem is when you pay a subscription fee, you don't get a license number on top of that, Copytrack should do their research before proving that Yayimages are original copyright owner of the image and they are not.

After reporting them for abuse on their domain server, the server informed Copytrack and then we received a much more threatening email from their CEO Marcus Schmitt:

You have submitted an illegal and false fraud report to our hosting provider United Domains concerning this URL:

copytrack.com
We take this very seriously and would like to respond as follows:

1. You have used a photo of our customer and copyright owner “Concept Production” on your website, for which our customer was unable to find a valid license. As a result, our client has instructed us to send you a request for authorization to verify that you have a valid license.

As proof of our legitimacy, attached receive the following:

Confirmation of Ownership & Confirmation of Cession for the image in question
General Ownership Declaration of our client
General confirmation of assignment

2. Instead of providing proof of a valid license, you are still using this image under:

3. We reserve the right to take legal action against you for defamation and misrepresentation if you do not immediately

a) correct your false accusations and statements about us to United Domains by answering to this e-mail

b) provide proof of license for the image in question

Regarding the activities of Copytrack GmbH in general:

Copytrack GmbH has been operating as a registered legal service provider in accordance with Section 10 (1) No. 1 RDG since 2016. Our registration number is “7525 G 1 KG 02/16.” As part of our activities, we provide our customers with a platform that allows them to automatically check the use of their images on the Internet.

If any uses are detected, customers decide independently whether a possible infringement of rights has occurred. In such a case, they can submit a case for further review via our platform. Before further processing, we regularly confirm both the ownership of the rights and the express authorization.

After a positive review, we send a so-called authorization request to the alleged user with the aim of clarifying the copyright situation. The affected party is free to

immediately terminate the matter by presenting valid proof of license,
acquire a retrospective licence for further use of the image, or
pay compensation and cease use.
Our legal department is available to the parties involved at any time by email, telephone and via an integrated chat system for queries and amicable clarification.

Best,
M.Schmitt

__

Marcus Schmitt
CEO

Evil company. they sent an extortion email for over US$2000 on behalf of yayimages for our use of an image we licensed from getty/istockphoto long before yayimages was even founded.

This is a shake down and even after proving that I have a full authorization to use the image in question they keep harassing me. They are hoping to find someone dumb enough to pay and not fight. This is the worst of the worst when it comes to scavengers hoping to profit off of the week.

We received a notice informing us on copyright infringement on an image used on a webshop we own.
2 options to settle was described - both including that we pay Copytrack an amount of aprox 350-390 euros.

The image in question was downladed via our Adobe stock subscription, so we can join the a long line of people that have been wrongfully accused by Copytrack for copyright infringement. What annoys me the most is I have to take time out to check the validity of their request, the history of the image used, etc.
Time wasted on my behalf because of their scam business model.

Fraudulent company making false copyright claim, trying to scam people money. Ignore!

Harassed us on behalf of their supposed client over images we have legitimately licensed from Adobe Stock.

They use scammer tactics, threatening, sense of urgency, directly demanding money. All red flags for everyone by now hopefully.

This company is harassing me saying I have a copyright infringement on a image I got off Canva pro. I have sent proof this image is in canva then they wanted me to prove I downloaded it before they messaged me with the infringement which is funny because how otherwise would they see it before messaging me, idiots.

Fake claims. I have bought image from stock image for my site. But they are claiming copyright.
They are a scammer.

Again...and again...
Stop sending fake copyright warnings to initiate fake claims and ask for compensation. I have proved so many times to COPYTRACK that I have paid for my photos.