First, save the evidence
Finding your photo on someone else's account is frustrating, and the urge is to comment straight away. Before you do anything, screenshot the post, the account's profile and the caption, and copy the post's link. If the account blocks you or deletes the post, this is your proof.
Keep the original file too. The full-resolution image, ideally with its camera and copyright metadata, and the date you first posted it, show that the photo is yours.
Is stealing photos a crime?
In most countries, taking someone's photo and posting it as your own is copyright infringement. If you took the photo, you own the copyright from the moment you took it, without registering anything. Infringement is usually a civil matter, meaning you can ask for the photo to be removed or for payment, rather than a police matter.
It can become criminal when the photos are used to impersonate you, scam people or harass you, or when they are intimate images shared without consent. In those cases, report it to the police as well as to Instagram.
Ask them to credit or remove it
Many people repost photos without realising it's a problem. A short, polite message often works faster than a report:
- Say the photo is yours and link to where you first posted it.
- Ask for what you want: a credit and tag, a licence fee or removal.
- Give a clear deadline, such as 48 hours.
For a business using your photo to sell something, it's reasonable to ask for a licence fee. Our guide to responding to copyright infringement covers how photographers approach this.
Report stolen photos on Instagram
If they ignore you, or you'd rather not contact them, report the post to Instagram as a copyright violation. Only the copyright owner, or someone authorised to act for them, can file this report.
- Open Meta's intellectual property reporting form and choose Copyright.
- Enter your contact details and say you own the photo.
- Paste the link to each post that uses your photo, and a link to your original if it's online.
- Describe the work, for example "my photograph of a sunset over Lake Ontario, first posted on my account on 3 May".
- Submit the form and watch your email for Instagram's reply.
Instagram usually removes the post if the report is valid, and accounts with repeated copyright reports can be disabled. Instagram may share your name and email with the person you reported, so use a business email if you'd prefer not to share a personal one.
The same form works for photos stolen on Facebook, since both are run by Meta.
If someone made a fake account with your photos
An account pretending to be you is impersonation, which Instagram handles separately from copyright. Report the profile from the app (open the profile, tap the three dots, then Report) or use Instagram's impersonation report form, which works even if you don't have an account. You'll be asked for a photo of your ID to prove who you are.
Fake accounts made with stolen photos are often used for romance scams. Warn your followers so they don't engage, and ask friends to report the account as well.
Check where else your photos are used
A photo stolen once is rarely stolen only once. The same picture is often reposted to other accounts, Pinterest, blogs and shops. A reverse image search shows you where else it appears.
Google Lens works for a single photo. To check your whole feed, Lenstracer searches hundreds of photos at once and can re-check them on a schedule, emailing you when new copies turn up. Read more about how to find stolen photos online.
How to stop people stealing your photos
Nothing stops a determined person from screenshotting a public post, but you can make your photos less attractive to steal and easier to prove are yours:
- Add a watermark where it's hard to crop out, such as across part of the subject rather than in a corner.
- Post smaller versions, not your full-resolution files.
- Write your name into the file. Add copyright to your photos so the owner travels with the image.
- Make your account private if your photos are personal rather than work you want people to discover.
- Check regularly. The sooner you find a stolen copy, the easier it is to get removed.