Frequently asked questions.
- Photo by Cazador De Suenos
I received a communication from RYDE
VAAAM’s copyright business running under the RYDE brand name aims to work with both Image Creators and Image Users to legalize unlicensed imagery online through our Post-Licensing Platform.
A Post-License, or retroactive license, covers a usage that has already occurred. If you haven’t already got a license to use an image or other copyrighted work, Post-Licensing will help resolve the unlicensed use without the need to engage in legal proceedings.
Great! If you have a license for this use, please reply to our email with a copy for our Case Management team to review with our Client. If you have exceeded the limitations set within your license, or your license was not valid then we will request payment for the retroactive license.
If you would like to continue to use the image please contact your Case Manager by replying to our email and they will get authorization from the Client for continued use.
Images published online maintain all their copyrights, unless specified by the author.
Aa general rule, always ask the copyright holder permission before publishing their work. If you’re unsure who the copyright holder is, the website which you found it on may be able to tell you where they obtained it from.
Google and other search engines specifically are not sources of free imagery, this is why they display the notice “Images may be copyright protected.”
Copyright subsists on a moment of a works creation and lasts the authors life plus 70 years. There is no requirement for a work to be watermarked or displayed with a copyright symbol “©”. This means that most content online, will be protected by copyright. Not knowing who the copyright holder is, does not give you the right to use a work without permission.
If you have been contacted by us with regards to the unlicensed use of our client’s work, then any communication must be through our Case Manager until the matter has come to a close. Our artists are advised to refrain from communicating with unlicensed image users once a case has been submitted.
For many creatives, licensing is how they make their living and while it’s great to attribute the artist, credit is not sufficient for proper licensing of an image (unless under a specific Creative Commons license.)
Our prices are set by our customers based on their standard licensing practices. We may also take into account fair-market value using a guide like the German MFM (Mittelstandsgemeinschaft Foto Marketing) Guide. Prior to legal processing, our license fees are not inclusive of any uplifts and/or damages.
Once you have remitted payment for a Post-License, if you have not requested continued use, you must remove the image from your website. If you have also purchased a license for continued use, then you may keep the image on your website, as it was published as per the Case Report. Failure to purchase a Post-License will unfortunately leave you liable for Copyright Infringement and the matter will be referred to our Legal Partner in your jurisdiction.
I am interested in using RYDE services
Feel free to upload as many images as you want, as long as you hold an exclusive right to the images you wish to protect. The more images you upload, the better chances we have produce better results.
The images should be at least 600px. The maximum allowed file size is: 10.5 MB. The supported file formats are: JPEG, PNG
We are not publicly displaying your images anywhere or sharing them with any third party. Your images are safe with RYDE.
Once the images are uploaded, our system of web-crawlers search where your assets have been used online. Our team of Case Producers will go through the matches, curate the viable cases with the most chances of success. We will submit to your approval all Pre-cases in your Client Portal.
We have learned that identifying “good cases” amongst all the findings online is beneficial not only to us, but also our clients. Our “Case Curation Process” takes the burden off your shoulders by offering you only cases that:
- Are legally and commercially viable.
- The image user is identified.
- Is in our areas of operation
Once you approve a case, it goes through three phases.
Phase 1: Post-Licensing is when we reach out to the image-user in good faith to notify them that our client could not find a record of a license for their use. In case of no response or resolution, Phase 2 is when the communication is taken over by the lawyers to settle the case before any court action; and Phase 3 is court proceedings.
A case cycle usually lasts between 15 days to 3 months but may take longer depending on the phase and cooperation from the infringer.
There is absolutely no financial or legal risk involved in signing up with RYDE. We work on a revenue share model, which means we make money only if you do.
RYDE works at a global forefront with new additions of countries arriving regularly.
Book a call to have a first introduction with your Client Manager or reach out to us at info@ryde.one. We are waiting to help you get rewarded for your creativity.
We developed and improved our web crawler to maximize the efficiency of image infringements online.
Our web crawlers search millions of websites globally to collect active data about the usage of a photograph online.