Copy Removal

Questions

The questions people ask before they open a matter.

Answered plainly, including the ones where the honest answer is no.

The short answers
The cost
A removal
Your logins

The main questions

Cost, risk and who owns what.

A rowing boat on a turquoise mountain lake, cliffs and a summit behind

Your photo

The bow of a wooden boat on a green mountain lake under grey cliffs

A lookalike

Question 05: why the search shows pictures that are not yours, and why they are never filed.

What does a takedown cost?

Every page is priced from a published five-rung list, $95 to $295, depending on where the copy sits and what filing it needs. You see that figure before you approve the page, and the invoice comes only after we have checked that your photo is gone from it. Searching, reviewing, declined pages, notices nobody acts on and copies put back after a counter-notice cost nothing.

Can you guarantee the photo comes down?

No one honestly can. The host, the platform or the search engine makes that call. What we can promise is the billing: if the copy stays where it is, you owe nothing for it.

How long does it usually take?

We will not give you a date, because the other side sets the pace and it varies a great deal. Some act quickly, some need chasing, a few never answer. Each step shows up in your portal on the day it happens.

What happens to a photo I upload for the search?

It is stored privately at a random address so the image search can read it, then deleted along with the search after 14 days, or sooner if you delete it from the results. Nobody else sees it and it is used for nothing else. If you open a matter from that search, the photo stays with the matter as the original the notice points to.

Why did the search show a picture that is not mine?

Reverse image search returns lookalikes along with copies. Anything that is not the identical file is labeled as a lookalike or a file-name match, so you know to open it and compare. No page is filed against until a person has set it beside your original.

A friend took the photo of me. Can you get it removed?

Not with a copyright notice in your name, because the copyright is the photographer’s. They can authorize us, or you can use the platform’s privacy or impersonation report. We will tell you which fits instead of filing something we cannot stand behind.

Will the person who copied it find out who I am?

Most likely, so decide with that in mind. A notice has to name the rights holder and give contact details, and hosts and platforms usually pass it on to the site or account owner. Google sends search removal requests to the Lumen database, which publishes names and the reported addresses but not contact details.

What if they answer with a counter-notice?

The host may put the photo back 10 to 14 business days later unless you start a court action. You hear from us the day it arrives. The invoice for that page is canceled, and refunded if you had already paid. Taking it to court is a decision to make with a lawyer, not with us.

Does the photo need to be registered first?

Not for a notice. Copyright exists from the moment the photo is taken. Registration matters if you sue in the US and makes ownership quicker to prove, which is why an unregistered photo with no originals or metadata has its own rung on the price list.

Is Copy Removal a law firm?

No. We are a takedown service working as your authorized agent, on your instructions, for photographs you own. We do not give legal advice, and when a matter needs a lawyer we say so instead of taking it on.

The rest

Borders, accounts and what comes after.

Still not answered? Write to [email protected].

Can you act outside the United States?

Not yet. Canada uses notice-and-notice, which forwards a complaint without requiring removal, and the EU has its own procedure under the Digital Services Act. A US notice is the wrong tool in both, and we will not bill you for one.

Can you unmask whoever runs an anonymous site or account?

We can find what the public record shows: the host, the registrar and an abuse contact. That is everything a notice needs. Naming the person behind an account takes a court order, and that is a lawyer’s work.

Will a takedown stop them doing it again?

Nobody can promise that. A notice removes one copy and leaves a record. Hosts and platforms must have a policy for repeat infringers, and that record is what it acts on.

Do you need my passwords?

Never. We file from our side as your agent and do not ask for a login to any account of yours. If a platform wants identity documents for an impersonation report, it asks you directly.

How can I tell the search is not making matches up?

Each result links to the page it came from, so you can look for yourself, and each one says how it matched: identical file, same file name, or lookalike. A result marked identical that turns out not to be is a bug, and we would like to hear about it.

Can you get them to pay me instead?

We do not negotiate license fees. If you would rather be paid than have the copy removed, talk to a lawyer or a licensing agency before any notice goes out.

Can I search for pictures of another person?

The search exists to find copies of photographs you own. It is not for identifying or following anyone, and should not be used that way.

Free, and no account

See where your photo has been posted.

Paste the address of your photo and the search opens on the homepage, where you can also upload the file. Free, and no account.

Upload the file on the homepage

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 6 MB

Go to the search

Already know where the copies are? Open a matter.