Photo-sharing website Flickr is to offer subscribers copy-protection tools that can detect if their images have been used without permission.
Flickr Pro subscribers will be able to monitor up to 1,000 images and send automated copyright claims to people or companies that use their photos.
“We want our photographers to feel comfortable sharing their work online,” said Flickr’s Andrew Stadlen.
Flickr deleted thousands of photos in February after changing its pricing.
Under the ownership of Verizon it had offered all members one terabyte of photo storage for free. But in 2018, its new owner SmugMug said the policy had proved “staggeringly expensive” and reduced the allowance to 1,000 photos for non-paying customers.
The copy-detection tools will be provided by US start-up Pixsy.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), companies such as Facebook and Twitter are obliged to remove any copyright-infringing material they are made aware of.
Flickr Pro subscribers will be able to send up to 10 computer-generated DMCA reports for free.
However, they will also be able to submit legal challenges and seek compensation if they find their images used without permission for commercial purposes.
Pixsy says it has won thousands of legal claims for photographers using its system.
