diff --git a/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py b/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
index 0e9fbc1..64834cc 100644
--- a/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
+++ b/oshipka/persistance/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import datetime
 import json
 import os
 import re
+from distutils import dir_util
 from importlib import import_module
 from json import JSONEncoder
 from uuid import uuid4
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ from uuid import uuid4
 from flask import request
 from flask_security import current_user
 
-from config import SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI, MAKEDIRS, DATABASE_FILE, SEARCH_INDEX_PATH, STATIC_DATA_DIR, basepath
+from config import SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI, MAKEDIRS, DATABASE_FILE, SEARCH_INDEX_PATH, STATIC_DATA_DIR, MEDIA_DIR, basepath
 from flask_migrate import Migrate
 from flask_migrate import upgrade as migrate_upgrade
 from flask_migrate import init as migrate_init
@@ -304,6 +305,9 @@ SENSITIVE_PREFIX = "__SENSITIVE__."
 
 
 def populate_static(app):
+    static_media_dir = os.path.join(STATIC_DATA_DIR, "media")
+    if os.path.exists(static_media_dir):
+        dir_util.copy_tree(static_media_dir, MEDIA_DIR)
     with app.app_context():
         models = import_module("webapp.models")
         sensitive = import_module("sensitive")