Someone is using my product photos without permission. What can I do?

Good product photos take time and money. A competitor who copies them gets your work for free and often undercuts you with it. You can do something about it.

First, check that the photo is yours to claim

Copyright belongs to the person who took the photo, not the brand that makes the product. That matters for online shops:

• You shot it yourself: you own it.
• You hired a photographer: check your contract. Unless it assigns the copyright to you, the photographer usually still owns it, and you may need them to make the claim, or to authorize you.
• You used the manufacturer's or a supplier's photos: you probably don't own them, and other sellers may have the same right to use them as you do.

One Amazon catch: when you add images to a product detail page, Amazon's terms give Amazon a broad license to use them. Other sellers who list on the same product page may then show your photos legitimately. A report is much stronger when the copy is on a different listing, another marketplace or a separate website.

Step 1: Save the evidence before anything changes

Listings get edited and deleted fast, especially once a seller knows they've been caught. Before you report anything, save:

• Screenshots of the listing or page showing your photo, with the URL and date visible.
• The listing details: URL, seller or shop name, ASIN or item number.
• Your original file, ideally with camera metadata, plus where and when you first published it.

If you use Pixsy, each match is saved with its page and date for you, so you don't have to screenshot by hand.

Step 2: Decide what you want, removal or payment

• You just want it gone: report it to the marketplace or send a takedown notice. Quick, free or cheap, and it works on sellers anywhere in the world.
• You want to be paid: don't report it or contact the seller first. A business that used your photo commercially owes you at least a license fee, and often damages as well. The strongest claims start with the evidence intact and a formal first contact, and with Pixsy, our team and partner law firms handle that for you.

A compensation claim makes most sense when the user is a real business, such as a brand's own web store, a retailer or a company using your photo in ads. A one-off marketplace seller in another country is often better handled with a takedown.

Step 3 (removal): Report it to the marketplace

Each marketplace has its own form. All of them expect you to be the copyright owner or someone authorized to act for them.

If a business used your photo, claim before you report. Once a listing is reported and removed, your evidence and your leverage for a claim usually go with it.

The fastest route: Pixsy Takedown sends the notice for you, one click from your match, whether the copy is on Amazon, Etsy, eBay, a Shopify store or any other site. Notices go out in the right format for the country, and we keep checking whether the image comes down. To do it yourself, use the platform's own form below.

• Amazon: use the Report Infringement form (no Brand Registry needed). Brand Registry members can use Report a Violation. Report copyright and trademark issues in separate notices. See Amazon's guide.
• Etsy: use the IP Infringement Report Form, or the Etsy Reporting Portal for frequent reports. The seller can file a DMCA counter notice. See Etsy's guide.
• Shopify store: use Shopify's online copyright (DMCA) form. One notice can cover several stores using the same work. See Shopify's copyright policy.
• eBay: use the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program. It covers copied photos and listing text.
• Any other website: send a DMCA or local-law takedown notice to the site and its host. Find the host if the site ignores you.

False or careless reports can backfire. Platforms process counter notices, and you can be liable for a report you knew was wrong. Only report photos you own.

For copies on standalone websites, a takedown notice usually works best when it goes to both the site owner and the company hosting it. Our guide on how to send a DMCA takedown notice has a free template.

Step 3 (payment): Claim a license fee or damages

If a business used your product photo to sell or promote, you can ask it to pay what a license would have cost. That's the minimum it owes you.

Some cases are much stronger: a well-known brand, wide or long commercial use, many of your photos, a registered photo, or a seller who keeps using it after being told. These can support a legal claim for damages on top of the license fee, often worth far more. Most still settle before court.

With Pixsy Resolve, you submit the match as a case. A real person reviews it, checks the business and where it's based, and sends the letter. If the business won't settle, strong cases are escalated to one of our 30 partner law firms for legal enforcement.

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 for you. If the business is somewhere we can't take a case, we'll tell you before anything goes out.

What you can recover depends on the use, the country, whether the photo is registered 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.

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 infringement was willful. Our guide on what a photo copyright claim is worth goes deeper.

"Product photos get copied more than almost anything else online, because they sell. A store that lifts your images is using your work to make money. It owes you for that, and when the use is big enough, it likely owes you damages too." Kain Jones, CEO of Pixsy

Step 4: Find every other copy

Where there's one copy, there are usually more. Sellers copy from each other, and a single listing can spread to dozens of stores.

Run your best photos through a reverse image search such as Google Lens or TinEye. To keep watching without doing it by hand, Pixsy Monitor scans the web for your images around the clock, including listings on Amazon, Etsy, eBay and Shopify stores. It finds crops and edited versions and flags which uses are commercial. The free plan covers up to 500 images, and the image theft calculator gives a rough idea of what copies could be costing you.

Step 5: Protect your next shoot

You can't stop people copying, but you can make claims easier:

• Register your best photos if you're in the US. Registration isn't required to make a claim, but it can make you eligible for statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per photo, up to $150,000 if the infringement was willful. See how to register your photos.
• Keep your originals and metadata in one place, with the date you first published each image.
• Get the copyright in writing when you hire a photographer, or a license that lets you enforce it.
• Monitor continuously so you catch copies while they're still live.

Get started

Pixsy finds where your photos are used, sends takedowns in 14 languages under the laws of 35+ countries, and recovers license fees and damages from businesses, escalating strong cases to 30 partner law firms, with 250,000+ cases handled so far. Start for free.

Quick answers

Are product photos protected by copyright? Yes. A product photo is a creative work, and copyright belongs to the person who took it from the moment it's taken. You don't need to register it to own it.

Can I claim compensation if another online store uses my product photos? Yes, if a business used your photo commercially without a license. You can claim a license fee for the use, and in stronger cases damages as well. With Pixsy, submitting a case is free, and you pay 50% only if money is recovered.

How do I get my photos removed from Amazon or Etsy? Use the marketplace's own form. On Amazon, that's the Report Infringement form; on Etsy, the IP Infringement Report Form or the Etsy Reporting Portal. You'll need the listing URL, proof the photo is yours, and a signed statement that the report is accurate. If you use Pixsy, Pixsy Takedown sends the notice for you straight from your match.

Should I message the seller first? If you only want the photo removed, a polite message can work. If you want to be paid, don't contact them first. Save the evidence and let a formal letter make first contact, so the claim starts strong.

What if the seller is in another country? Takedown notices work almost anywhere. Pixsy's notices meet the requirements of 35+ countries and are translated into 14 languages. Compensation claims depend on where the business is based.

How much is a stolen product photo worth? It depends on the use, the country and how you've licensed the photo 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.

I paid a photographer for my product photos. Can I make the claim? Only if the copyright was transferred to you, or the photographer authorized you to enforce it. Check your contract. If not, the photographer can make the claim.