How to prove a website is using your photo without permission

Whether you want the image removed or paid for, everything rests on evidence. You need to prove two things: that the site used your photo, and that you are its author. Here is how to build a file that the other side cannot easily dispute.

Two things to prove

1. The use: your photo appeared on a given page, on a given date, in a given context.
2. Your authorship: you took the photo, and it existed in your hands before it appeared there.

One without the other is weak: a screenshot does not prove you are the author, and your RAW file does not prove what the site did.

Proving the use

• a full-page screenshot with the address bar, date and time visible;
• a copy of the page code (HTML) and of the image file as served by the site;
• the server IP address, the host and the domain owner details (WHOIS / RDAP);
• a timestamp and SHA-256 fingerprints of each file, showing they have not been altered since;
• a public archive if possible: save the page on the Wayback Machine (web.archive.org/save).

Frolay Protect collects all of this in one click and produces a dated manifest to attach to your letters.

Proving you are the author

• the original file (RAW, or the highest-resolution JPEG) and its EXIF metadata: camera, date, settings;
• other shots from the same series, which an infringer cannot have;
• the date of first publication on your site, portfolio or social account;
• a trusted timestamp (RFC 3161) of the file, which Frolay Protect adds to every photo on upload;
• in the US, a Copyright Office registration certificate, which also counts as evidence of ownership.

Your own capture or an independent record?

For a friendly claim, a complete capture made by you or by a tool like Frolay Protect is usually enough: most sites settle when faced with a clear file. For a lawsuit, the other side may challenge a capture you made yourself. Depending on the country, your lawyer may then use an independent record: a bailiff or commissaire de justice report in France, a notarised capture in some EU countries, or a forensic web capture service in the US and UK. Your file helps them act fast, before the page changes.

Mistakes to avoid

• contacting the site before capturing the evidence;
• a cropped screenshot without the address or the date;
• editing or recompressing the screenshot afterwards;
• keeping only a link, which can change or disappear;
• losing your original files: keep them backed up.

Frequently asked questions