Contingency copyright enforcement for photographers
You pay nothing upfront. We only get paid when you do.
Submit cases for free. We only take a fee when we recover money for you, and if we don't, you owe us nothing. See how Pixsy Resolve works
Our case managers and partner lawyers have handled more than 250,000 infringement cases for photographers, artists and agencies.
We pursue businesses outside your country through partner lawyers, and pay your share to your bank wherever you live.
What contingency means at Pixsy
Pixsy enforces photo copyright on a contingency basis. You submit a case for free, we go after the business that used your image without paying, and we take a 50% fee only if the case succeeds. If it doesn't, you owe us nothing.
99% of our cases settle without going anywhere near a courtroom. Your case manager handles the evidence, the letters and the negotiation, and you only pay when money comes in. One fee, the same for every case:
| Situation | What you pay |
|---|---|
| Submitting a case | Nothing. Submit as many as you like |
| Case resolved | 50% of the amount recovered |
| Case unsuccessful | Nothing (unless we informed you otherwise) |
Here's how the money splits
Say a business agrees to pay a license fee of $1,500 for using your photo. You get $750, we keep $750 as our fee, and you paid nothing to get there.
Example based on a $1,500 license fee for 1 year of US commercial use.
Which cases qualify
Company websites and blogs
The most common case. A business drops your landscape shot onto its homepage, or a travel company uses your image in a blog post, and nobody ever paid for it or asked permission.
Online stores and listings
Your photo is used by a business to sell something: a product page, a marketplace listing or a property ad, with no license behind it.
Ads and marketing
A business puts your image in an ad, a banner, a brochure or a marketing email without paying for it.
We take cases where a business has used your image commercially without a license. Personal use, like someone sharing your photo on their own social account, isn't something we pursue.
You don't need to have registered your copyright. If you're a US photographer, we do recommend it: registration lets you claim statutory damages, which makes a US case much stronger. Photographers outside the US don't need to register.
How a case works
You'll get an update at every step, and you can give us new instructions at any point.
Submit the match
You submit the match from your Pixsy dashboard, or one you found yourself.
Set your terms
You set our settlement authority, and a minimum amount if you want one.
We build the case
We collect evidence of the use and check who the business is.
We negotiate
A case manager contacts the business and negotiates a license fee or settlement.
Escalate if needed
If they won't pay, we can take it to one of our partner law firms.
You get paid
Once it's paid, we send your share to your bank, wherever you are.
Four questions to ask any enforcement service
Whatever service you pick, get clear answers to these first. Here are ours.
What percentage do you take?
50% of what we recover, and nothing if we don't recover anything.
What if you can't recover anything?
You pay nothing. If a case isn't viable, we release it back to you at no cost, and we can help with a free takedown, a template and the evidence we gathered.
Do my photos need to be registered?
No. US photographers should register, because it allows statutory damages. Outside the US it isn't needed.
Do I get a say in the settlement?
Yes. You set our settlement authority when you submit, with an optional minimum, and you can change your instructions at any point by email. We'll let you know if there's a lower offer, or if we need more information.
"Most photographers don't have time to chase a business three time zones away over a $1,500 license fee, or hire and manage law firms in other countries, languages and legal systems. That's the job we took on."
Found your photo on a business website?
Submit it free. You only pay if we get you paid. Not sure where your photos are? Start monitoring 500 images free.
Questions photographers ask us
Fees, minimums, international cases and registration.
Is it really no win, no fee?
Yes. If we don't recover anything, you don't pay anything (unless we notify first - each countries legal systems are different)
How is the 50% worked out?
It's half of the amount the business pays. If a business pays a $1,500 license fee, you get $750. In the rare case that goes to court, legal costs are covered from the recovery first, and we'll always explain how that works for your case before anything goes ahead.
How much could I recover?
It depends on how the image was used. Across our cases, license fees recovered typically range from $750 to $3,000 (average $1,500), and legal settlements from $3,000 to $30,000 (average $8,000). These figures are based on 1 year US commercial use and vary by country, client and licensing history. See how we recover lost licensing fees
Do I need to register my copyright first?
No. Your photos are protected by copyright the moment you take them, and we take cases whether you've registered or not. If you live outside the US, there's nothing you need to register.
If you're in the US, it's still worth doing, for four reasons.
You need it to sue. A US photographer has to register a photo before taking a business to federal court over it. If your case ever needs to go legal, registration comes first.
It unlocks statutory damages. A court can award between $750 and $30,000 per photo without you having to prove what you lost, and up to $150,000 if the business knew it was infringing.
Timing matters. Statutory damages and legal fees are only available if you registered before the infringement started, or within three months of first publishing the photo. Register later and you can still sue, just without those extras.
It's cheap. Registering one photo online with the US Copyright Office costs $45, and a group of published photos costs $55.
Haven't registered? Submit the case anyway. It won't stop us taking it on, although a registered photo gives us more leverage with a US business.
Can I set a minimum settlement amount?
Yes. When you submit a case, you can set the lowest amount you'd accept. We won't settle below it without asking you first.
What happens if the business refuses to pay?
We can escalate it to one of our partner law firms, and most businesses settle at that point. If a case ever needs to go further, we'll talk you through the options for that country first.
Do you handle businesses outside the US?
Yes. We work with copyright lawyers around the world, and we pay out to photographers wherever they live.