When someone uses your creative work without permission, here’s how to fight back and protect your rights.
If you’ve discovered your artwork, music, photos, or written content being used without your consent, you’re not alone and you have options. Whether it’s a stolen photo on a website, a beat used in someone else’s song, or an entire blog post reposted without credit, unauthorized use of copyrighted work is a serious matter. You deserve to be compensated or to have the infringing content taken down.
As copyright attorneys, we help artists, creators, and business owners take action quickly and strategically.
What Counts as Unauthorized Use?
Unauthorized use can take many forms. Some common examples include:
- A business using your photo on their website or social media
- Someone selling merchandise with your original artwork or design
- A song uploaded to Spotify that samples your beat or uses your lyrics
- Your written content copied onto another website or blog
- Your videos reuploaded to YouTube or Instagram without credit or license
Whether or not the person meant to steal your work doesn’t matter. If they didn’t have your permission or a proper license, it’s likely infringement.
What Are Your Legal Options?
Once unauthorized use is discovered, you have several potential paths:
- DMCA Takedown: We can file a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice to remove infringing content from platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Meta, TikTok, or websites.
- Cease and Desist Letter: A formal letter demanding the infringer stop using your work and remove it immediately. Often the first step in resolving the issue without going to court.
- Settlement Demand: If the infringer has made money from your work (or you’ve lost potential income), we may pursue financial compensation through a demand letter.
- Copyright Infringement Lawsuit: If necessary, we can file a lawsuit seeking damages, injunctions, and attorney’s fees, especially if the infringement was willful.
Do I Need to Register My Copyright First?
While you automatically own the copyright to your work the moment you create it, you need to register with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to sue and claim full damages. If your work isn’t registered yet, we can help you do that and still take steps in the meantime to get the unauthorized use removed.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait
Waiting too long to act could weaken your claim or make it harder to recover damages. In some cases, the longer the infringement continues, the harder it becomes to prove ownership or damages.
Even if the use seems small, like an Instagram post or a YouTube video, it can quickly spread or impact your brand, especially if the content is monetized.
How We Can Help
At Landry Legal, we help creators, artists, entrepreneurs, and brands protect what they’ve built. We offer rapid action, professional communication, and enforceable solutions from takedowns and cease-and-desist letters to federal copyright lawsuits.
If your work has been used without permission, let’s take action.
