Flagship Endpoint

Image Copyright Check API: A Risk Verdict, Not Just Raw Signals

Send an image URL and get back a picrisk verdict of high, medium, low, or very low. The same response carries every piece of evidence that produced it, so your system can block, flag, or approve the image and explain why.

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Request

curl -X POST https://app.picdefense.io/api/v2/checkImageRisk \
  -H "X-API-TOKEN: USERID:APIKEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/photo.jpg"}'

Response

{
  "status": 1,
  "message": "succeeded",
  "data": [{
    "picrisk": "high",
    "stock": true,
    "backlink_count": 330,
    "found_at": ["rabbit.co.th", "jiajia.com.au"],
    "exif_copyrighted": true,
    "exif_copyrightHolder": "Bigstock®",
    "watermark": { "detected": false },
    "face": true,
    "logo": false,
    "landmark": false,
    "highrisklabel": false
  }]
}

Pay Per Call. No Subscription.

Buy prepaid credits once and spend them on any PicDefense endpoint.

Endpoint	Credits / call	Per 1,000 calls
`POST /checkImageRisk` Full copyright risk analysis with picrisk verdict and supporting evidence.	0.80	$56.00 – $160.00

Ranges run from the 100,000-credit pack down to the 100-credit pack. Credits are charged only on successful calls and never expire. See all credit packs on the pricing page.

What It Detects

Stock Library Matching

Reverse search finds the image on commercial stock sites, which is the most common source of demand letters.

Web Spread

Backlinks and domains show where else the image lives, so you can tell a widely licensed stock photo from an original.

Embedded Copyright Notices

EXIF copyright and artist fields reveal the rights holder even when the page gives no credit.

Visible Watermarks

Detects stock and photographer watermarks and names the likely source agency.

Text in the Pixels

OCR picks up credit lines, copyright symbols, and preview overlays that metadata stripping leaves behind.

Release-Sensitive Content

Flags faces, logos, and landmarks that may need model, trademark, or property releases.

Built for These Workflows

Where teams wire this endpoint into their pipelines.

Print-on-Demand Upload Screening

Score every design a seller uploads before it goes to print. Hold high-risk files for manual review instead of shipping them.

CMS and WordPress Plugins

Check images as editors insert them and show a risk badge in the media library before the post goes live.

Marketplace and UGC Moderation

Add a copyright gate next to your content-safety checks so listings with lifted stock photos never publish.

Agency Site Audits

Run client image inventories through the API in bulk and hand over a ranked list of what to replace or license.

Demand Letter Triage

Verify the image named in a claim and gather the matching evidence before you respond.

DAM Ingestion Rules

Tag every asset with a risk verdict on import so unlicensed images cannot reach production channels.

What You Get Back

Every call returns JSON with status, message, error, and a data object. These are the fields inside data.

POST /checkImageRisk

Full copyright risk analysis with picrisk verdict and supporting evidence.

Field	Type	Description
picrisk	string	Overall verdict: high, medium, low, or very_low.
stock	boolean	Whether the image matches a commercial stock site.
backlinks	array	Pages where the image appears, each with a similarity score up to 100.
backlink_count	integer	How many places the image was found on the web.
found_at	string[]	Domains where the image was found.
exif_copyrighted	boolean	Whether embedded EXIF metadata carries a copyright notice.
exif_copyrightHolder	string	The copyright holder named in EXIF, if any.
watermark	object	Visible watermark detection with identified source and confidence.
text	object	Text read from the pixels, such as credit lines or sample overlays.
face / logo / landmark	boolean	Content that may need a model, trademark, or property release.
highrisklabel / mediumrisklabel / lowrisklabel	boolean	Whether a risk-weighted content label was detected.

Why Teams Choose the PicDefense Copyright Risk Check API

A Verdict You Can Act On

Most image APIs return raw detections and leave the judgment to you. picrisk combines the signals into one decision your code can branch on.

Evidence Included

Every verdict ships with the matches, metadata, and watermark data behind it, so reviewers can see why.

Replaces Several Integrations

Reverse search, stock detection, EXIF, watermark, OCR, and content detection arrive in one request with one bill.

Built by a Compliance Company

The scoring comes from the same engine PicDefense customers use to audit websites and answer demand letters.

Prefer a Dashboard?

The same risk engine powers PicDefense Risk Forensics, which scores every image on your website without writing code.

Explore Risk Forensics

Use It From an AI Agent

Every endpoint is also exposed as a tool on the hosted PicDefense MCP server. Connect Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with your existing API token.

https://mcp.picdefense.io/mcpMCP setup guide

Pairs Well With

One API key and one credit balance cover every endpoint.

Watermark Detection API

Detect visible stock and photographer watermarks and learn which agency they belong to.

Learn more

Reverse Image Search API

Find every page and domain where an image appears, with a similarity score for each match.

Learn more

Copyright Metadata API

Pull EXIF copyright notices and read credit lines baked into the pixels with OCR.

Learn more

See every PicDefense API endpoint

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the picrisk verdict mean?

picrisk is one of high, medium, low, or very_low. High usually means the image matches a commercial stock source or carries a third-party copyright notice. Very low means none of the risk signals fired. Treat it as a triage signal for your own review.

How much does a copyright check cost?

Each successful call uses 0.80 credits. Depending on your credit pack that is roughly $0.06 to $0.16 per image. Failed calls are not charged, and credits never expire.

Why use this instead of calling the individual endpoints?

checkImageRisk runs reverse search, EXIF, watermark, OCR, and content detection together and adds the combined verdict. Calling the pieces separately costs more and leaves you to write the scoring logic yourself.

Does a low risk score mean I can use the image?

No. A low score means PicDefense found no evidence of a third-party source. It is not a license or legal clearance. Keep your own license records, for example in the PicDefense Proof Vault.

Can I check images that are not public?

The API fetches the image from the URL you send, so it must be publicly accessible. Images behind a login or firewall cannot be fetched.

Start Calling the Copyright Risk Check API Today

Create an account, copy your API token from Settings, and make your first request in minutes.

Get Your API Key Read the API Docs

PicDefense API results are automated, probabilistic signals intended to support your own review. They do not constitute legal advice and do not guarantee that an image is free of third-party rights. Consult a qualified attorney for decisions about copyright, trademark, or publicity rights.