Epic Rights Enters the Counterfeit Battle

Agency has teamed with CounterFind to track knock-off merchandise for KISS, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Billy Joel and more.

GLOBAL–Epic Rights has partnered with CounterFind to further battle counterfeit merchandise and pave the way for online brand protection within the music industry worldwide.

CounterFind is a software company that tracks counterfeit merchandise for sports and entertainment trademark holders across social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Through the process, CounterFind’s software tracks ads marketing counterfeit products and shuts them down in real-time. The company’s filtering formula, in conjunction with image recognition and human intelligence, also enables it learn counterfeiters’ new marketing tactics as they develop.

“In the past 5 years, online counterfeiting of artist merchandise has grown explosively worldwide, confusing fans with inferior product and unapproved designs, and with the artist losing sales,” says Jesper Poulsen, senior vice president, artist and brand development, Epic Rights. “Until now, there have been no real tools developed to fight it. We are excited to be joining CounterFind in bringing real solutions to this global issue.”

Epic Rights’ current roster of artists that will benefit from the partnership include: KISS, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Woodstock Festival and the Estates of John Lennon and David Bowie.

“Print-on-demand platforms have gotten away with allowing counterfeiters to use the name and likeness of artists for far too long,” says Darren Woodson, founder, CounterFind. “It’s important to remove all the counterfeit sold online because fans normally can’t tell the difference between legitimate product that supports their favorite band, and one that hurts them.”