When Someone Steals Your Art: What You Can Do

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Well, it finally happened……

Sharing your artwork online is always a double-edged sword. You want people to experience your art, but visibility also opens the door to misappropriation and theft.

Last week, I came across an image that was unmistakably mine—being passed off as another artist’s work.

From what I can tell, she traced my original photograph, signed it, and posted it on Facebook and Instagram as her own. Overlaying the two images in Photoshop made it obvious: they were identical.

And she didn’t just steal the image.
She created an entire elaborate story to go with it:

“To tell the story in 2D begins with some fast moving horsepower… this amazing horse came running toward me… even though this happened a couple years ago, the photos I took bring back the intensity of the day.”

It was brazen.

So what did I do?

After the initial shock, I called her out publicly and shared the situation with my network. The response was immediate. Artists flooded her posts with clear, firm, civil reminders that stealing artwork is unacceptable.

She attempted to defend herself by posting a so-called “reference photo” that looked nothing like either image. It was a flimsy attempt at covering her tracks.

A few people wondered whether this was cyberbullying. It wasn’t. No threats, no harassment—just artists standing up for what’s right. Calling out art theft is not bullying. It’s protecting your livelihood and your creative integrity.

Facebook and Instagram eventually removed her posts—whether by platform action or by her own panic, I don’t know.

But there’s a bigger issue here:

Using someone else’s creative work—whether it’s a photo, a song, a design, or a visual style—is intellectual property theft. Period.

I see this constantly:

• Students using photos they didn’t take

• Artists using “found images” online in their encaustic work

• Videos posted with copyrighted music

• Marketing materials built on someone else’s photography

None of it is okay.

A photograph is copyrighted from the moment it’s created, watermark or no watermark.

Yes, there are copyright-free and Creative Commons images available online. Use those if needed. But using someone else’s protected image—especially in work you plan to sell or share—puts you on very thin legal and ethical ice.

Unfortunately, international image theft is common, and often impossible to fight. But here in the U.S., you do have options:

How to Protect Your Artwork Online

• Report the infringement—Facebook, Instagram, and most platforms have an easy “report intellectual property violation” form.
• Register your images with the U.S. Copyright Office—You can register up to 750 images at once for a small fee. This strengthens your legal rights significantly.
• Learn how to issue a DMCA takedown—The Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives you strong tools to force removal of stolen content.
• Use Google Reverse Image Search—Patrol your images online and look for unauthorized use.
• Send a cease-and-desist letter—It’s often enough to make the infringer back down.
• Watermark your images (visible or invisible)—Services like Digimarc embed hidden digital watermarks that can’t be removed.

Art theft happens far too often. Let’s stay vigilant and speak up when we see it.

This particular infringer has agreed to stop posting the stolen image and send me the original, which she did. But if you see my artwork anywhere, please notify me immediately—I won’t hesitate to take stronger action.

Artists must protect each other.

And our work deserves respect.

 

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What experiences have you had with this issue? Would love to know how you resolved it.

Be well….be creative,