We use Copytrack

Photo shoot of a flag on a flagpole outside
Photo shoot of a table flag in a photo studio

We, MaxFlags GmbH, use Copytrack GmbH services and technologies to protect our intellectual property and to track copyright infringements. Copytrack supports photographers, stock photo agencies, publishers, and e-commerce providers to ensure that their works are used legally.

As one of the largest suppliers of flags in Europe, we have been regularly publishing images, photos, and videos of our offered flags on our own servers and social media since 2012. The images and photos we publish are used exclusively for the sale of products in our online stores as well as promotional advertising measures.

We do not use simple graphics from Wikipedia like many common flag stores, but we photograph each flag individually. Each flag is ironed or staged in some other way before a photo shoot. Depending on whether it is an additional photo or the actual product photo, we take photos outside or in our photo studio. A product photo is then isolated or masked. When we create a photomontage, this montage is always based on images we have already created in the past.

In this context, we would like to clarify that all photo and video work is done by our permanently employed staff, working students, or contracted agencies.

Photomontage of large flag (150 x 250 cm) on a flagpole Photomontage of flag (90 x 150 cm) on a flagpole

Information about Copytrack's request for payment

If you have received a payment request from Copytrack for one or more of our images, then you can decide whether to purchase a post-license or pay compensation of damage.

A subsequent license is retroactive and valid for one year from the date of payment. A purchased Copytrack image license is only valid for one year because we do not actually want to license images for personal, commercial, or editorial use. Due to the ever-increasing theft of images, we, however, are practically being forced into image licensing. Our images are exclusively intended for the sale of flags by us. We thus strongly recommend that you replace our images within the licensing period. You can find great images and photos of flags at stock photo providers such as Pexels, Pixabay, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, or Getty Images. If you cannot find what you are looking for there, and we have the flag you are looking for in our collection, then you are welcome to buy the flag from us and simply take the photo yourself.

If you decide to pay compensation, then you must remove our images and delete all copies.

Please note that it is not sufficient to remove our images without paying compensation of damage. The removal of images only terminates the infringing act. The resulting claims arising from the committed infringement can only be eliminated by acquiring a post-license or paying compensation of damage.

Important: You should take the payment request you receive seriously and respond within the deadlines to avoid further charges. It is not a fake request or scam if you receive a letter from Copytrack and it refers to MaxFlags GmbH's flag images. Many lawyers' websites advise not to pay immediately and to take advantage of an initial consultation. These sites almost always say that the claim can be significantly reduced. However, this is only possible if the costs for the image license were calculated extremely high. In our Copytrack cases, however, only a fraction of the usual image fees are applied because we are not professionals in the photo industry.

Photo of three flags (10 × 15 cm) on a halyard
Photo of a flag before editing
Edited product photo of a flag

Our request of you

We know that admitting a mistake is not easy. Nevertheless, we ask for you to understand the actions we are taking. We invest a lot of time and money in our images, photos, and videos. We currently have over 15,000 pictures and 2,500 videos available online. If you have found our images on free portals such as CleanPNG, PNGWing, or PNGEgg, then this is image theft. These sites and similar portals automatically download our image files and offer them for free download without permission. This cannot be prevented because the publications are made anonymously and without legally required information.

Should you have any further questions, please email us at: copytrack@royal-flags.com

Related Links

External web links