How to Protect Your Images from Misuse on Social Media Platforms and Websites

If you make your living in photography or graphic design, likely you have wondered how to protect your images – especially if you share them on social media platforms. The truth is, there is no foolproof method of complete protection. If you simply cannot afford to have an image copied, don’t put it out there.

You’re Copyrighted

If you are in the US, UK, EU and Canada, your work is copyrighted as soon as you create it. No further action is required on your part.

Assume it Will Happen and Prepare

You’re a busy professional with too much to do to get completely wrapped up in pursuing copyright infringement. So, assume it will happen, and work this assumption in to your pricing structure. This tip from Stephanie Moore of Moore Photography in Wilmington, North Carolina, “Charge more up front to cover the prints that they should be purchasing from you.”

Use a Watermark

Protect Your Images with a Watermark

An obvious watermark can protect against copyright infringement, and at the very least, provide some free advertising if people use it anyway!

Add a frame with a copyright notice around your image, or impose a watermark on top of your image. The problem with watermarks, of course, is that it subtracts from the visual impact of your work. Less-obtrusive marks can mitigate that impact, but may also be easier to edit out. Moore, quoted above adds, “Make the watermark more obvious so that they are advertising for you.”

How to Know If Your Images Are Being Used

Use a service such as Digimarc to clearly communicate your copyrights and to track image use online. A free search service like TinyEye may find images if they have not been heavily edited. If your website is very popular, your regular visitors may report infringement to you. We happened to find our misused image because we “like” many businesses similar to our clients and just happened to spot our image in the newsfeed.

What to Do When Someone Uses Your Photos Illegally

Contact the Person and Seize the Opportunity

This happened to us at Scalable just last month. We noticed that an image we’d created for our clients was being used by other businesses as their Facebook Cover Photo. Not only that, but they were giving other businesses permission to use the image, as well!

When we contacted the first borrower to ask that they please give us a shout out on their page in return for using our image, they apologized profusely and took the image down and even offered to let the company to whom they’d given permission to reuse know that it wasn’t theirs to give. It turned into an opportunity to tell them about our services and, though it isn’t in their budget at the time, they gladly joined our mailing list and hope to be able to use our services in the future!

Most people honestly do not realize that they should not be using your images. Assume that they do not, and politely ask that they remove it, pay for it, or give you credit, whichever you prefer.

Contact The Copyright Infringer’s Web Host or Report Infringement to Facebook or Google

Should the above method fail, and your images are showing up on other websites, contact their hosting company directly. Send an email stating the copyright violation and that you have contacted the infringer directly. Include links from your original work and the infringing page.

If the work is being misused on Facebook, the fastest way to report the issue is to use Facebook’s Copyright Infringement form. At that point, Facebook will, “… process the claim, which may result in removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing content.

If the content is removed, the party that posted the content will receive a warning on their account alerting them to the fact that content that they posted to Facebook was removed pursuant to a notice of copyright infringement. If the party that posted the content believes that we have made a mistake in removing this content, they may be eligible to appeal the removal of this material.”

Google Plus is a fantastic platform for photographers and artists. If you believe your copyright has been violated on any Google platform, you can use Google’s online copyright infringement form to initiate an investigation.

You can also report copyright infringement on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Notify the Website’s Advertisers, Partners and Affiliates

If your image is being used on a website, contact all advertisers, including Google’s AdSense program and let them know that the website is violating copyright law (provide a link to your original content).

Take Legal Action Against Copyright Infringers

If having the image removed will be worth the time and expense this option will incur, consult an attorney about taking legal action. Regardless of the frustration you may rightly be feeling, this needs to be a purely financial decision.

Your Turn!

Tell us, have you had issues with copyright infringement? How have you handled it? What worked for you? Please share in the comments.

Continue reading here: The One Tip You Need to Generate Massive Leads with Pinterest

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Readers' Questions

  • thomas adams
    How to protect images on website?
    1 year ago
    1. Use a Watermark: Adding a watermark to the image can make it more difficult to copy and use without permission.
    2. Disable Right-Click: Disabling the right-click on your website can prevent people from easily downloading and copying images from your site.
    3. Use Copyright Notices: Using copyright notices on your website will help inform visitors that the images are protected by copyright.
    4. Use File-Locking Software: Using a file-locking software solution to protect images on your website will prevent users from downloading and using your images without permission.
    5. Use a Digital Rights Management (DRM) System: A DRM system can help protect and control access to digital content, including images, on your website.
    6. Block Image Scraping: Setting up anti-scraping tools on your website can prevent people from scraping and using your images without permission.
    7. Monitor and Report Infringement: Using a monitoring and reporting service can help you quickly identify and act upon any violations of your intellectual property.