What to do when someone steals your content online
Actions you can take if you discover your images have been used without your permission on another website.
This not meant to be a comprehensive article — just an example of what I chose to do in a recent situation where I discovered someone had used an image I created without permission on their own article about using Facebook Live for business.
This is not the first time I have found a website using images I have created without attribution to me.
My images have been used by live streaming social media experts who should know better, by global talent organisations and now the Circle of Docs “The Online Gathering Place for Alternative Health Professionals and Patients”.
This video shows how I discovered my image was being used and the action I decided to take.
It is important for your own reputation and relationships that you honour and respect copyright.
I am not an attorney and the image has little value — but a request to use my image and appropriate attribution could have been the start of a new relationship or friendship.
There is a different course of action I would take if I were a brand, business and especially a professional photographer that I will not go into here.
You can see my original article here in an article I wrote about getting started using Facebook Live.
You can see the Circle of Docs article where they use my image here — the article is authored by Circle of Docs founder Dr Beau Pierce.
As you will find in the video below I decided to leave a comment on the article to ask for attribution and a link to the original source — in past situations I have privately messaged someone — it all depends on the circumstances and I suppose your personal level of tolerance alongside any commercial issues in terms of the approach you take.
Let’s hope that they give full attribution to my article and a link to the original source.
What action have you taken when you find your images have been ‘stolen’ and used with out your permission?
