So you have found your image being used without your permission. First thing you have to understand is that you own the copyright to that image the second you click the shutter. You do not have to register it in order to claim copyright status. (although registering your images with the copyright office does give you better standing in a legal fight and increases your potential damage awards). Second is that as the copyright holder only you have the right to determine how the image is to be used and where it is to be displayed. Third is that it does not matter if the image is not being used for commercial purposes (i.e making money off it) it still is a copyright violation if you did Hello,

I have found that the following image IMAGE URL located at LOCATION URL is using my copyrighted image which can be found at YOUR IMAGE URL without my permission. Please have the image removed immediately.

I look forward to your positive response.

Respectfully,

Or something of that nature. The important thing is to be polite and professional. If you do go to court all your correspondences can become part of the case and you calling the person a jackass dose not bode well for you.

If the image is being used in more of an advertisement, part of a website structure or other commercial means I sometimes include that ‘If you wish to continue to use the image I will forward a image usage agreement for the fee of… for past and future use” in there and sometimes that pushes them faster to have it removed (and sometimes I actually make some money).

Now if you can not find the posters contact information or the website owner’s contact info is not found on the site the next place to look is a ‘whois’ search. All domain registrars are required to have one, I use [link] . Just type in the website address and it will give you all the owner information, typically. You can then send the note above to the site owner (or a proper DCMA notice see below). Now some site owners use a proxy service to mask their information. You can still send an email to the contact info listed and it should be forwarded. If issue is not resolved the proxy service typically has a procedure for reporting a copyright abuse.

If you still get no response the next step is to go to the websites host. In the above whois search result, towards the bottom you will see 2 entries for ‘nameservers’ type this address in your browser and you will 9 out of 10 times be taken to the hosting company’s website. Now before you click contact and fire off an email look through the site to find their copyright reporting procedures. Most will have something up and a special email address for this purpose, typically abuse@ or copyright@. The same little note above will typically not work at this level and it needs to be an official DCMA notice such as:

DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement ("Notice")
1. Identify the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or-if multiple copyrighted works are covered by this Notice-you may provide a representative list of the copyrighted works that you claim have been infringed.
2. Identify the material or link you claim is infringing (or the subject of infringing activity) and that access to which is to be disabled, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the Photobucket website where such material may be found.
3. Provide your mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, email address.
4. Include both of the following statements in the body of the Notice:
* "I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use)."
* "I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyright or of an exclusive right under the copyright that is allegedly infringed."
5. Provide your full legal name and your electronic or physical signature.

Full copy of the DCMA act can be found at [link]

Sometimes you will find your image posted on a website but find that the image itself is being hosted on a site such as photobucket. You can find out sometimes by clicking the image and it will take you there or if using a browser like firefox you can right click the image and ‘view image’ to see where it is actually being located at. If this is the case do not waste time with the website but go directly to the image hosting site. Photobucket’s copyright protection page is [link] and you can send a DMCA notice to abuse@photobucket.com I have found that they have been quick and responsive in the past.

A big culprit we have found is the myspace layout/comment graphic sites. These sites are set up to earn the owner advertisement and traffic revenue. Most of the time the site owner is not creating the graphics but they are being uploaded by others. This does not remove responsibility from the owner so still pursue the removal through them, although they typically hide well, using the methods above. I mention these sites for another reason. Sometimes these taggers (as they call themselves) leave their ‘signature’ on the graphics. Google these people and attempt to find them. When you do put them on notice to cease and desist using your images. This will do 2 things, one being hopefully the will get enough of these and perhaps they will get the idea and stop and second you have put them on notice for any legal action in the future.

Now these are things to do after the fact but here are some things to do before hand to try and prevent the theft or use. Yes some can be worked around and there will always be those that simply just don’t care and will do so anyway, but these things will give you a basis for legal protection and increased damages.

1. Register your images with the copyright office. [link]
2. Watermark your images with copyright info. Make sure you use the copyright symbol in there, the year and your name as a minimum. Across the image (to dissuade use) or even in a border. Logos and other stuff are nice but not legally required. Removal of such falls under further penalties. More info [link]
3. Include full metadata in your image. See my journal [link]

There are even other methods like digimarc which embeds info in the image that can not be seen or removed, but with special software can be tracked over the internet.

This covers images that you find being used over the internet. If you find that your image has been used elsewhere such as in print somewhere I would then get a lawyer. You can try sending notice first yourself, again being polite and professional, and include a usage agreement for past and future use, such as a choice of $ for past use and stop future use or another $ amount for past and continued use). Most of the time they’ll disregard the payment and stop using it, you decided if its worth pursuing from there.

Now after saying all this, I am not a lawyer nor play one on tv. Always talk to a lawyer if in doubt or before taking legal action. This is just advice from my experience and research on the web.