Guide · Updated 7 November 2026

Someone stole my photo: what to do

Finding your photo on someone else's page is maddening. The fix is usually a form and twenty minutes, as long as you do things in the right order.

Short answer

If someone used your photo without permission, first find every copy with a reverse image search like Google Lens or TinEye, and save each page with a screenshot showing the link and date. Then gather proof the photo is yours, starting with your original full-size file. Finally, report the copy: use the platform's copyright form, or send a DMCA takedown notice to the website or its host. If the photo is being used to pretend to be you, report it as impersonation instead.

One copy you stumbled on often means more you haven't seen. Run your photo through a reverse image search:

  • Google Lens: in Chrome, right-click your photo and choose Search with Google, or upload it at images.google.com.
  • Bing Visual Search finds a different set of pages.
  • TinEye is good at exact copies and shows when it first saw each one.

On a phone, our guide on how to reverse image search on your phone shows where each of these is.

Save every copy you find before you do anything else. Take a screenshot that shows the page address and the date, and save the image itself. Pages get edited or deleted the moment people notice a complaint, and you'll want the record.

2. Show the photo is yours

A platform will usually take your word for it, but the person who posted the copy may push back. Your strongest proof is your original file: it's bigger than any copy, and it usually holds the date and camera details. Drop your original and the copy into the compare two photos tool to see how closely they match, what was changed, and what in your file backs you up. You can copy its summary straight into a takedown notice.

Other good evidence: the shots you took just before and after, the RAW file if your camera saves one, and a backup with an early date. Our guide on how to prove a photo is yours goes through each one.

3. Get the copy taken down

Where the copy is decides how you report it:

  • On Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X or Pinterest: use the platform's copyright form. It asks for the same details as a DMCA notice.
  • On a website: look for a DMCA or copyright page and email the contact it gives. If there isn't one, send the notice to the company that hosts the site.
  • In Google's results: report it to Google too. That removes it from search, though not from the site itself.

The DMCA takedown notice generator writes the notice and links to the right form for each platform, and our guide on how to report copyright infringement lists every form in one place. Our guide on sending a DMCA takedown notice covers what happens next.

If a business is using your photo

When a company uses your photo to sell something, you can ask to be paid instead of, or as well as, having it removed. A short, polite email naming your usual fee often works. If it doesn't, licensing recovery services and lawyers take it from there. Keep the screenshots from step 1, because that's what they'll ask for.

How to protect your next photos

Keep your originals backed up with their dates. Turn on your camera or editing app's copyright field so your name is saved in every photo. And before you post, check what your photos give away with the EXIF viewer: the location you don't want to share, and the details you do want to keep.

This page explains how things usually work, in plain words. It’s general information, not legal advice, and rules differ by country. For a decision that matters, talk to a lawyer. Terms

FAQ

Questions, answered

Is it illegal to use someone's photo without permission?

Usually, yes. In the US you own the copyright in a photo you take from the moment you take it, without registering anything. Using it without permission is infringement unless an exception like fair use applies, for example a short use in a news report or review.

Someone is using my photos on a fake profile. What do I do?

Report it as impersonation, not just copyright. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and dating apps all have an option for a fake account pretending to be you, and they act on it faster when you report from your own account or show ID. Tell friends so they don't accept the fake.

Can I ask for money instead of a takedown?

You can ask for a license fee, and some photographers use services like Pixsy or Copytrack that chase payment for a share of it. In the US, suing for statutory damages generally needs the photo registered with the Copyright Office before the infringement, or within three months of first publishing it.

Do I need to register my photo's copyright?

Not to own it or to send a takedown notice. Registration matters if you might sue in the US, because you need it to file a case for a US work. The Copyright Office lets you register many photos in one application.