Technology makes it easy to find infringing websites which use images and link back to your website. Image infringement can also occur in individual websites which do not link back to your website as well as be found in various business applications where images are used in presentations and publications without permission. Keep in mind that the images may have been reduced in size, given new file numbers and .jpg or .gif extensions which may not be the same as those you used in your website. However, if you search for your images using common terms from your website or from file extensions, you may be able to find them with relative ease. While there are a number of major image search engines available,
only one, Google.com, provides the overall reach of the Net to effectively search out and find illegally used images


Several useful services offer means to track infringement via the Internet.

Digimarc offers technology to thumbprint images and then regularly send its BigDaddy Digimarc crawler throughout the Internet seeking unauthorized usage.

MediaHouse offers an excellent tool for both tracking of visitors for marketing purposes as well as referring URLs of those who link to websites, such as image search engines and individual websites.

Copyright Infringement Action
What happens when you discover that your work has been used by someone else for their commercial benefit? The action that is taken depends entirely upon you and your interest in seeking recovery for damages caused to you by the infringement.

STEP ONE Document the infringing action with screen shots (digital copies) and /or printed copies of as many pages of the infringing website as possible to accurately portray their use of your material, preferably in color so as to present an accurate representation of your image(s).

STEP TWO Document the infringing website, i.e., its owners, their business purpose, etc.

STEP THREE Decide your course of action to either proceed with IPS takedown action or pursue legal action for damages.

STEP FOUR Contact an Attorney of your choice to review potential legal action to include a civil action in your District federal court; remember that each case is based on specific issues unique to the material infringed and how it was used by the infringer. Successful prosecution often depends, among many legal factors, on appropriate documentation of the infringement.

Contact Leslie A. Kelly