Copyright Infringement for Photobooth Owners. What To Do If Someone Steals Your Images.

You’ve always known that when it comes to running a small business, there’s never a dull moment. It’s a wild ride, isn’t it? Tackling admin tasks, keeping your marketing game strong, and providing incredible client experience. But hang on, the LAST thing you need is legal drama because of borrowed (ie stolen) content!

Sadly, that’s the reality if you mess around with copyright rules. Snagging a post from Pinterest or an eye-catching image from a company’s account could land you massive fines, lawsuits, or a SEO-sinking DMCA takedown! 

Copyright infringement strikes when someone uses or reproduces copyrighted material without permission. It’s not just a legal term that only lawyers get worked up about; it’s a serious issue that can seriously affect small business. We’re talking about images, music, videos, and written content.

I often see photos used on websites or social media that are, let’s face it, stolen (yes, screenshotting and reposting is stealing). Or captions and website content copied and pasted as if it was yours.

The financial fallout of copyright infringement can be massic. If found guilty, you could be paying a fat settlement to the copyright owner, plus legal fees and court costs. That kind of money could literally break a small business.

But money isn’t the only thing at stake here. There’s also your reputation. Getting caught using someone else’s content can make you look unprofessional and unethical. And in business, trust is everything.

So, how do you steer clear of copyright infringement? Stick to original content or content you’ve got permission to use. Everything you post on your website or social media should either be homegrown or properly licensed (like the royalty-free stock photos we offer at The Photobooth Membership).

If you’re a small business owner and someone’s swiped your content, here’s what you can do:

1. Privately message them to remove the content – I hope most peoples intentions ate good, and they truly didn’t know that this isn’t okay. Educating people is key – send them this post if needed.
2. Send an invoice for the stolen content.
3. File a DMCA Takedown.
4. Take legal action.

To check if your content is being used by others, you can use reverse image search or copyscape.com. And if you spot a business using someone else’s content, do them (and the original creator) a favor by flagging it.