Hi All,
While doing a Google reverse search, I have recently stumbled upon 3 clips of mine being used on a YouTube promotional video published by a real estate company. I have looked them upon and they appear to be a reputable company owned by a major European bank.
I have only submitted those clips to the Big 4 agencies but I haven't seen the sale of those clips reported anywhere. Initially I thought the videos could have been bought from Getty, since they report sales in arrears, but on closer inspection, I realised that 2 out of the 3 clips used in the YouTube video are still parked for approval at Getty, so I'm excluding that possibility.
The YouTube video was published about a week ago and my clips were uploaded (and all accepted in 3 out of 4 agencies) in early April, so while the sales are recent, they are least a week old.
I checked the YouTube video carefully several times and I couldn't see the faintest hint of a watermark, so for the time being, I'm assuming the purchase was legit.
I have emailed the company today explaining the situation and politely asked if they could let me know where those 3 clips of mine were purchased from.
I was just wondering if someone here has faced a similar situation (either with footage or stills) and if you could provide some advice. At the moment, I'm relying on the goodwill of that company to get back to me and disclose the name of provider, but if they either decline that or simply do not respond, I'm not sure what other avenues I have at my disposal (if any) since the real estate company is not located in my country of residence.
Any ideas or advice you could provide at this stage would be much appreciated.
Thanks a million.