Brands pay for media, models, agencies and production. Now and then, they skip paying for the photo. If it's yours, you're owed for that use, and a company with an ad budget can usually afford to pay.
"Happy to get a large company to pay for my image instead of stealing it." Janice M., Pixsy client
1. Don't contact the brand or post about it yet
It's tempting to email the brand or call it out on Instagram. Both tip it off. The ad gets pulled, the page changes, and your proof goes with them.
A public post can also make the company less willing to settle. Keep it quiet until your claim is under way. The first contact should be a formal letter, not a DM.
2. Save proof of every place it ran
Ad campaigns run in many places at once, and each one adds to what the use is worth. Capture all of them.
- Screenshots of each ad, web page or post, with the URL and date visible.
- Social ads: search the brand in the Meta Ad Library for Facebook and Instagram ads, and the Google Ads Transparency Center for Google ads. Screenshot every ad that uses your photo.
- Print, billboards and packaging: take a dated photo of each one and note where you saw it.
- An independent record: save web pages in the Wayback Machine.
- Your original: the file with its metadata, and when and where you first published it.
Note how long the campaign ran and in which countries. Both drive what the claim is worth.
3. Check it wasn't licensed somewhere along the line
Big brands rarely find photos themselves. An ad agency, designer or stock site often sits in between. Before you claim, check:
- Stock sales: did the photo sell through an agency, and did that license cover advertising?
- Past clients: did you license it for one use, like editorial, that the ad went beyond?
- Your own posts: did you publish it under a Creative Commons license?
If an agency supplied your photo without a license, your claim is usually still with the business that ran the ad. How it splits the bill with its agency is between them.
4. Work out what the use is worth
Advertising is the highest-paying kind of commercial use. A brand pays for reach, so a license for a paid campaign costs more than one for a blog post. The value goes up with:
- Paid placement: ads, print and outdoor, rather than a single web page.
- Reach: national or international campaigns.
- Time: years or months of use, not days.
- Prominence: your photo as the main image.
- A removed credit or watermark.
- A registered photo (in the US).
Pixsy's case results give a sense of scale. License fees recovered typically range from $750 to $3,000 (average $1,500), and legal settlements from $3,000 to $30,000 (average $8,000). These figures are based on 1 year US commercial use and vary by country, client and licensing history.
Claims against big brands tend to sit at the top of that scale. As a guide, legal settlements in the US for large commercial use by international businesses usually range from US$10,000 to $50,000.
In the US, a photo registered before the infringement started, or within three months of first publishing it, can bring statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per photo, and up to $150,000 if the use was willful. If your watermark or credit was cropped out, US law can add separate damages for removing copyright information, from $2,500 to $25,000 per violation.
"When 'reputable' companies steal your images, strip watermarks, and profit, Pixsy hunts them down." Alex, Pixsy client
For what drives the number, see how much a photo copyright claim is worth.
5. Choose who handles the claim
Large companies have lawyers. A personal email from a photographer often gets a low offer or no reply at all. You have three options.
- Do it yourself. Possible, but expect their legal team to push back on the fee, the evidence and whether you own the photo.
- Hire a copyright lawyer. Worth it for a very large US case with a registered photo. Many charge by the hour or take a share of what they recover.
- Use Pixsy Resolve. A real person reviews your case, checks the business and where it's based, and sends the letter. You set the minimum you'd accept and get updates at each step. It's no win, no fee: submitting is free, and we take 50% only if we recover money.
Most cases settle without court. If a case does need legal action, one of our 30 partner law firms takes it on, and we explain how that works for your case and country first.
"Brands spend millions on media and then help themselves to the photo. They have the budget for a license, and once they see the evidence, most of them pay. The mistake is warning them before the claim starts, or settling too low. That's where our expertise comes in." Kain Jones, CEO of Pixsy
6. What happens next
Most cases take 3 to 12 months, depending on the country and how quickly the company responds. Big brands often move faster once the evidence is clear, because a quiet settlement costs them less than a dispute.
"The team at Pixsy kept me informed every step of the way and my role in the procedure was minimal." VBC, Pixsy client
If the business is in a country we can't take a case in, we tell you before anything goes out. And if your photo turns up on brand pages across the web, Pixsy Monitor keeps watching for new uses, so you catch the next campaign while it's still running.
Quick answers
Can I really get paid by a big company? Yes. Large businesses usually have the budget and the legal advice to settle once a claim is clear. A formal letter with solid evidence is what gets them there.
Should I message the brand or post about it first? No. Either one warns them, and the ad may disappear along with your proof. Save the evidence and let a formal letter make first contact.
The brand says its agency supplied the photo. Who pays? Usually the business that ran the ad is still responsible for the use. How it settles that with its agency is up to them.
The ad isn't running any more. Can I still claim? Yes, as long as you have proof it ran. In the US you generally have three years to bring a claim, so older campaigns can still count.
Do I need to have registered my photo? No. Copyright exists from the moment you take the photo. In the US, registration adds statutory damages, which makes a claim against a big company much stronger. See how to register your photos.
How much is it worth? It depends on where and how long the photo ran, the country and how you've licensed it before. License fees recovered typically range from $750 to $3,000 (average $1,500), and legal settlements from $3,000 to $30,000 (average $8,000). These figures are based on 1 year US commercial use and vary by country, client and licensing history.
What if the brand is in another country? Pixsy takes cases against businesses in the countries we cover, working with 30 partner law firms. We'll tell you before anything goes out if we can't.
Do I need a lawyer? Not to start. Pixsy handles the claim, and strong cases go to a partner law firm if the company won't settle.
