Warning woman © Carsten Reisinger
So you’ve found one (or more) of your images on a web site that is violating the terms of the license agreement (if a proper license was even acquired…).
First thing you have to do is cool down. If this is happening to you for the first couple of times it’s normal to feel like you want to punch someone’s face. All your hard work has been ripped and used for free. Not to mention if you found your image on a shower curtain at a home decor store or something like this.
Now, after you calmed down, you most likely want to inform the other party that you (the copyright owner) are aware of a license violation or copyright infringement.
This can be done in an informal email explaining:
- who you are
- providing a link to your image with the copyright note
- the link where you found the violating or infringing material
- the demand for presentation of a properly acquired license and/or removal of the image from the web site (if it’s on a web site).
- if you have registered copyright to your images and you are sure that this case is a violation you can get in touch with an IP (intellectual property) attorney or legal advisor to discuss further steps. It’s not a bad thing to present the infringing material to a lawyer BEFORE it is removed!!! Consider this a costly venture unless you can find an attorney who accepts the case on a contingency basis.
If you’re lucky, the image will be removed quickly and everything’s in order.
If you don’t get a response after your initial E-Mail or the response claims that they “didn’t know” proceed to Step 2.
P.S. I’m not an attorney and this information is not intended to be interpreted as legal advice. This article is supposed to be helpful to you in order to protect your copyright. Always consult an attorney to get professional advice!
