Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  This scammy company reached out with demands of $2,750 for the use of an image that was pulled from ****** images. Ive made over 10 calls and get the no one is available to take your call message every time. I leave a message every time. They dont respond to emails. The only response Ive gotten was at 2 am. These people are attacking small businesses and threatening legal action up to $30,000. I guess Im heading to their office since they wont respond

  Business response

  09/27/2024

  Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license.
  We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way.
  We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved.
  Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action.
  We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.

  Customer response

  09/27/2024

   
  Complaint: 22335284
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  This response isnt accurate. They copy and paste the same response to every complaint. I paid the invoice although they state I havent in their response. The only option they gave me was to pay for retroactive use and for 1 year of continued usage. I dont want the continued usage from their artist. This response claims that theyve reached out multiple times (call and email) not the case. Ive called them 16 times and every time I get a message thanks for calling pixsy, our team is not available to take your call. Ive left multiple voicemails. They havent responded to my emails. Their response is 100% fictional. I have all of the receipts. Please present a factual response, Pixsy. 

  Sincerely,
  
  **** *****

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My company pulled an uncopyrighted image from a recipe blog. There was no indicator that it was copyrighted nor did we have to pay for the image. If it is protected, you shouldn't be able to right click, copy image. It should be protected from copying an image. We used this image for a post that referenced homelessness and charitable causes. It was not a profit generating post nor was the post widely viewed. When Pixsy reached out to us about this image, we immediately removed the post. By the way, they reached out to an employee that has not been employed with the company in over 5 years nor have they provided any evidence that it was copyrighted. They only provided the location that it can be found (on a recipe blog). We kindly asked to have the charges ($1,350) removed since we immediately acted. They refused and threatened us with attorneys if we did not pay by a certain day. We did research on the cost to use images which is about $100. The $1,350 is an egregious amount for the image use. We responded telling them we would pay $100 by the date they indicated. They waited until the day after it was due to tell us our offer was declined and they are sending us to their attorneys because we didn't make payment. After doing more research on the company, we found out that the image owner did not initiate this case. It was a computer algorithm that found the image. This is not how these matters are handled. We have been in business for over 52 years and this is the first time this ever happened to us.

  Business response

  02/09/2024

  Copyright is automatically *****ed at the time of creation to whomever created the image. Only the creator of an image has the right to distribute, display or reproduce the image. Copyright exists regardless of whether the creator has registered their work with the ***** Images found online are not free to use, unless it is specifically indicated so. A lack of indication does not ***** automatic permission for an image to be used. Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license. We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way. We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved. Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action. We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.

• Initial Complaint

  08/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been the target of a copyright infringement case from Pixsy for a little over 8 months or so. It was from the use of an image that was originally found to be copyright free. Upon the first email I quickly took it down and deleted it from ******* it was only up a short time and I made no money from it. They are continually harassing me for the sum of $1525, which seems outlandish. I have been reading online about this company and the general consensus seems to be that even though it is a legitimate company the practices they are using are quite shady. I don't feel I owe anything, let alone such an heinous amount and I'm not about to just pay the crazy amount without doing my due diligence to see if this is legitimate.

  Business response

  08/08/2023

  Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license.
  We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way.
  We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved.
  Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action.
  We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.
  You can look into the case in question and see if you need to add any extra details, refute any specific claims the image user has made, or change the end of the response if a settlement has been reached.

• Initial Complaint

  03/29/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Being harassed for large sum of money for copywrite infringement that unknowingly happened when I grabbed an image from a non-copywrite social media site. Photos have since been deleted, impossible for me to find the site. Strange notifications, threatening tagged posts. Using a ******** logo in threatening post which odd website address:************************************************************************************************************************* I mean, zero instead of an "o" -? really?

  Business response

  04/11/2023

  Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license.
  We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way.
  We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved.

  
  Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action.

  
  We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.

  Customer response

  04/12/2023

   
  Complaint: 19862417
  
  I am rejecting this response because: At any given time this image is in multiple locations, some - not on a copyrighted site. This complaint is linked to a hacked ******** page. The original owner of the page, a REALTOR in *******, confirms this page was hacked and is being used for copyright infringement threats. Multiple businesses are being tagged and targeted. There is no proof I got this image from a copyrighted site. Some days there are 7 locations where the photo is online, some days 8, some days 4. Who's to say that it's not a scam and images are being tossed out there to be used then fined?  Why would this be linked to a hacked site on ********* 20 - 30 businesses being tagged on a REALTORS hacked site? Nothing seems legit here. Nothing.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  04/13/2023

  An unauthorized image use is one where the image owner does not grant ******* or approval for their image to be used by others. If an image is found online it is not automatically free to use, including if it is located on a social media website. To avoid using images in an unauthorized manner it is best to source them directly from photographers or image stock websites. I invite you to further discuss this matter with your designated case manager for any additional clarification you require.

• Initial Complaint

  01/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Pixsy to help me get my photography images taken down by companies who were using them illegally without my permission. The is solely what they are suppose to do and I paid $19 monthly fee to have them monitor my artwork. On their site you can then send a cease and desist letter or have them contact the company and request payment for illegal use of artwork. It became clear they didn't really know what they were doing when my case involved ******** who had illegally stolen my images and was allowing people to use them anywhere online. I had given Pixsy as many details and possible to help me, was passed around to different people and was under the impression they were "helping" me. As the artist I retain all copyright of my artwork and Pixsy's job was to enforce that. I would often get a notification they could not move forward with a case to reclaim my artwork. Then out of the blue on August 5th, 2021 I get an invoice saying I owe 350 EURO dollars that was due on June 17th of 2021. This all seemed very odd and suspicious as the invoice that was sent to me on August 5th was created on June 3rd, 2021 by Pixsy but the invoice from Clairfort, a **************** I have never heard of nor worked with had an invoice of May 6th, 2020. Pixsy is and continues to harasses me for this payment that I had no idea what it was for or why I was being sent it. They claim I need to pay for legal fees for canceling of one of my cases trying to retrieve my artwork. Not once did they communicate with me before proceeding on my case that there could be legal fees I would have to pay, which makes absolutely no sense as they claim to do the following:Use the "Pixsy Jurisdictions" filter to see matches that we can accept as cases Look for matches that are still online and in a prominent place on their site Submit the cases today and our team will work to get you paid"They currently have a lawsuit investigation against them for unethical practices.

  Business response

  02/14/2023

  Pixsy is an online service that allows photographers to track where and how their images are used online and take action when they are used without permission.
  We scan the public internet and provide matches of the images for clients to review whether the usage is approved or unauthorized. 
  If a match happens to be an infringement the system allows the photographer to take further action and have the image removed (takedown) or recover lost revenue (case/resolve). We are only able to accept cases for images that are not available on a public domain license. We welcome you to connect directly with our case management team to answer questions that you might have.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The company, Pixsy, sent an email on 1/6/23 falsely claiming my business website of violating copyright infringment of a photo found on the internet in public domain (not from Pixsy) without any watermark or indication that it was copyrighted. They attached an invoice upwards of $1k+ without any proof of these damages. I removed the image as soon as I received the email. According to the copyright infringement law, I did not violate any copyright laws and had no intention of doing so. The copyright law indicates that: "Publication is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication." source: *******************************************************. What Pixsy is doing is considered "Copyfraud", which is making false claims and misusing copyright infringement notices with "fraudulent intent". Here are links to copyright fraud coined by ************************* **********************************************************, and justice.gov explaining "fraudulent intent" by Pixsy which are "Violations of 506(c) and 506(d) are each punishable by a fine of up to $2,500". *******************************************************************************************************************. Without any proof or justification of their claims, this is also considered as "Civil harassment", "The violence or threats seriously scare, annoy, or harass someone and there is no valid reason for it" according to the law: ********************************************************************************************************************************.

  Business response

  01/26/2023

  Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license.
  
  We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way.
  
  We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved.
  
  Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action.
  
  We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.

  Customer response

  01/31/2023

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Hello,
  I do not accept ****'s response. First of all,
  this comment is false: "We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved." The truth is, I received 3 emails from them. I have never received a phone call or posted letter.
  
  Also, they fail to mention that I sent them two email responses on Jan 26, 2023 explaining that the image was under the creative commons license and ******* attributed, and that there is no other place on the web where the image is available for license or purchase, other than the public domain. I also mentioned the very short time the image was on my site, which does not justify the $1k+ charge as well as my very limited financial situation due to the recent storms.
  
  They never responded to my emails. Now it sounds like they have resorted to lying and now retaliation by threatening to involve their lawyers instead of offering an amicable resolution.
  

  Business response

  02/07/2023

  Thank you for your recent reply. The case manager handling the image usage has replied accordingly with additional details and next steps.

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Pixsy *** sent me a threatening e-mail on Tuesday 12/6/22. They claimed I had committed copyright fraud. They sent over a couple PDF attachments saying that their photographer/client wants compensation for illegal use of his photo and that if by 12/26/22 I did not click on the payment link they provided and pay $1,350 then they would push legal suit and that I could be sued up to $150,000.The photo in question I had downloaded from ****** pics and posted to my activity website as I do sell activities where I live here in ******.It was an out of focus photo of a beach that looked like it was taken by a tourist. Anyhow, after some research it turns out the photo was not under copyright and was available for public use. But I did not get to that conclusion right away. I am hoping the BBB will post my complaint to the public because I almost paid the fine, thinking that this was a legit claim and that the photo I took must have been under copyright even though it had not appeared to be. It really caused me a lot of undue stress as $1,350 is a lot of money and I definitely did not want to deal with a legal suit. Also feeling like I had unknowingly committed a crime did not sit well with me.Had it not been for other people sharing their experience of being threatened by Pixsy online, along with some help from other business professionals I work with, I would not have known what to do.Anyone who receives a threat from Pixsy be sure and respond back asking them to provide... 1). Proof of copyright 2). Legal standing to represent the image/photographer 3). Proof of comparable ************** I would like to file a complaint against Pixsy for extortion. Can a group of attorneys please get together and start a lawsuit to put a stop to them? Its not fair to the hardworking small business owner to have to go under fire from their threats. And I am sure there are many out there who just paid the fine not knowing that Pixsy's claims were unmerited.

  Business response

  12/13/2022

  ** law defines the copyright of an image as belonging to the person who creates it. The copyright is granted automatically and does not require a registration with the ** ****************.
  
  The image owner has exclusive rights to reproduce, copy, distribute, publish, etc...the image. Simply because an image is found online does not mean that it is available for use without the expressed permission or license from the copyright owner.
  
  Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license.
  
  We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way.
  
  We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved.
  
  Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action.
  
  We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case.

  Customer response

  12/15/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Pixsy has made a false claim in their response to my complaint. They are accusing me of "simply" downloading an image that I found online and assumed was available for public use". This statement is not true. Before downloading the image in question, I did a specific ****** search for public images only (as I always do). to make sure the photo was legally available to the public. See attached video evidence. If Pixsy's client wants to *** ****** they should go after ****** for false advertising of a licensed photo, not me. The out of focus photo (not of professional quality) which Pixsy is stating I used illegally, is categorized by ****** as ""Free to share and use commercially". Pixsy has called me many times and has e-mailed me twice. I have responded to each e-mail within a 48 hr period of time and have shared the evidence in which I am attaching here.
  Should Pixsy's external attorney start litigation with me, I will counter *** for the undo stress and loss of work caused by Pixsy, in dealing with this false claim.
  See Attachment/File: Public Use Photo.mp4

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  We recommend never using ****** Images as a source. Their service is a search engine, created to discover websites that license or publish images. They themselves are not an actual image licensing service and cannot grant ********** to use images. To operate as a search engine, services that provide search functionalities have a special exemption to copyright. In order to comply and stay protected from copyright claims they include a copyright warning on all images posted. The following direction is indicated on the site used by the image user:
  "Before using an image, check the originating website to make sure you fully understand the license **********s and restrictions." By clicking on the image the image user would have been directed to the photographer's Flickr account (originating website) where he has image use instructions. In this case, the image is a "some rights reserved image" and may be used under a creative commons license only. Under a creative commons license an image cannot be used without attribution.
  ****** Images assigns the 'labeled for reuse' to images under the Creative Commons License - which our client's image is published under. While "free" to use under the terms of the license, the work can only be used under the terms of the license and if these are fully complied with. When the terms of the license are breached, as in this case by omitting attribution, the license automatically terminates, and any rights to use the image under the license are voided. Given that our client never received a request for ********** to use this image outside of these terms it is their expectation that the license fee be paid in full.
  
  See Attachment/File: Attribution

• Initial Complaint

  10/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  Company sent me a threatening email for an overdue licensing fee for using their image on a web site. I do not have a web site and have never used one of their images for any purpose.

  Business response

  11/09/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/19) */ Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license. We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way. We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved. Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action. We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/25) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Pixsy's response did not in any way address my complaint or desired resolution. Rather than simply verify my statements and take corrective action, Pixsy chose to ignore my statements of fact and to escalate their threats of legal action. Their false response only reinforces their reputation as an unethical purveyor of scams. Their claim that they repeatedly contacted me through "a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters" is entirely untrue. I received only threatening email without any prior advisement of "simple steps to resolve the situation." This company has not made any good-faith effort to correct what might otherwise have been construed as an honest mistake. They resort to bullying legal threats without any effort to investigate the factual basis of their claim against me and others (per *** web site). I believe a key component of their scam is the wholesale misappropriation of email addresses and broadcast threats. This is supported by the many reported complaints against them, which must be among many others that go unreported.

• Initial Complaint

  09/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  This company is threatening us with false claims of retroactive copyright infringement over a stock photograph that we licensed 3 years ago. As a matter of policy and practice, we license all stock images. We will take it on good faith that the company now owns the rights to the image in question. When we were accused of a copyright violation, we immediately deleted the social media post containing the image. The image we used was licensed and not watermarked. It was used one time and viewed by a handful of people. We will never use it again. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), we deleted the image from our social media accounts as soon as we were notified that the **current** license holder objected to its use. We would now like this company and its lawyers to close the case and stop trying to intimidate us into paying for an image that was legally obtained before they acquired the rights. Thank you.

  Business response

  10/19/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/03) */ Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license. We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way. We have sent a number of emails, phone calls and posted letters, however the case remains open with the copyright infringement unsolved. Our next step will be to escalate the case to our external attorneys for further action. We welcome the contact to reply to our communications and resolve the case. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This company is a well-known "copyright troll." They are making false claims about retroactive copyright infringement. We license all photographs, and the photo in question was most likely part of another library the one time that we used it 3 years ago. They never contacted us until this year, so they most likely obtained the rights this year and now want to claim that we are in violation. Once Pixsy told us they are the current license holder (and who knows if that's even true), we immediately removed the photo from the single social media post that they found from 3 years ago. This follows all of the proper DMCA guidelines: *********************************************** Beyond that, we are a non-profit school district protected from any legal action under the good faith rules listed below. Again, we had no intention of violating copyright laws, and did not do so. However, the law states that we are protected from horrible companies like Pixsy. I have now asked the ********* State Attorney General's office to file a harassment lawsuit against Pixsy. I think the *** should look into doing the same for this F rated company. Thank you. Nonprofit library, archive and educational institution exception (section 1201(d)). The prohibition on the act of circumvention of access control measures is subject to an exception that permits nonprofit libraries, archives and educational institutions to circumvent solely for the purpose of making a good faith determination as to whether they wish to obtain authorized access to the work.

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  On July 8, 2022 I received an email from Pixsy regarding unauthorized use of imagery on an event listing on my website. ******************************* this message came as a surprise because if I am not using my own curated images, I am using free stock art. The message threatened to take legal action if I did not comply and pay $750 fee to Pixsy/their client by July 29, 2022. In small incidences as mine, a Take Down Notice should have been sent. In fact, when I received their email - I immediately removed the image from my website and responded to Pixsy. Their reply was that their client does not do take-down notices. How convenient! I am curious if Pixsy truly offers ANY take-down notices - rather they just slap a fee on a threatening email. I tried to negotiate with Pixy - which included a reduced fee. On July 20, 2022, I also requested that they send me proof of their client's copyright registration. After that request, I did not hear from Pixsy until August 26 2022 - that is 26 days after my negotiation email. Pixsy acted with negligence and breached their own deadlines for accounts receivable by their lack of correspondence from July 20 - August 26. On August 26, I finally received another email from the case manager and the message obviously contained cut/paste legal-ese . Without warning, she closed access to my case and I am currently not able to open the invoice for review or payment. In a follow-up email, the case manager shared that she was sending my case to legal since I was not being compliant and negotiating with them. This was a complete lie, because I was the only one willing to negotiate and get proof of copyright in order to make a conscious decision for payment. In an era of cyber-theft, trolls, and hackers - Pixsy should not be surprised if someone requests proof and documentation. Pixsy is taking advantage of the copyright system and I do hope their business is held accountable for their harassment and uncivil business. Thank you.

  Business response

  10/05/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/09/21) */ Pixsy is the licensing agent for photographers and agencies worldwide and contacts businesses that our clients instruct us to when an image is used without a valid license. We have contacted this person to advise them of the copyright infringement along with simple steps to resolve the situation and use the image in a lawful licensed way. We do offer the ability to send takedown notices to all of our clients and it is each photographer's choice whether to send a takedown notice, or pursue compensation, for the unlicensed use of their work. After reviewing this case, we are glad to see it was successfully resolved and a license fee paid for the image. We now consider this matter successfully closed. Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2022/09/21) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Pixsy knew I was planning to pay their company for the license fee, and then prematurely closed my access to make a payment and sent my case to legal. I then had to deal with the stress of their legal partner and once settled, I had to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees, when the case should have never gone to legal. Pixsy, along with their clients and legal partners, are taking advantage of the copyright system and extorting thousands of dollars for minor infringements.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩