The Cease-and-Desist Letter for Photographers

In this article, you’ll find information about a cease-and-desist letter for photographers. This can help you if someone infringes on your copyright. This article was made possible thanks to CultuurCollege and Marlous Roelofs, Esq. At the bottom of the article, you can download a template for a cease-and-desist letter. We’ve also published articles discussing cease-and-desist letters for designers, illustrators, authors, translators, and poets.

In what situations do you use a demand letter?

As a photographer, you are protected by copyright law. This copyright arises automatically, so you do not need to fulfill any formalities. You decide what happens to your photographic work. You must give your consent for any form of distribution or modification by another person. You may also charge a fee for this. What if someone uses your photos without your permission? Or what if someone uses your photos in a way other than what was agreed upon? That constitutes a copyright infringement. In that case, you should send a cease-and-desist letter to stop further distribution of the work and to seek compensation for your damages. If you feel wronged, emotions can run high, and you often lose sight of exactly what you want. For that reason, it’s wise not to immediately call or email the party in question. A cease-and-desist letter allows you to assert a claim against the infringing party. This claim has a deterrent effect; it makes it unattractive for the other party to continue using your work.

Steps for Sending a Demand Letter

To avoid (major) conflicts and ultimately get what you're entitled to, follow these steps.

• Are you entitled to take action against the infringement? Do you hold the copyright, or does your employer, for example?
• Check to see if there is an exception to your copyright, such as the right to quote or because the content is embedded. Also check the source code to see if the work was uploaded by the user themselves or if it is embedded (and where it came from). See * for more information.
• Gather evidence of the infringement: take screenshots or photos (including the date); this will prevent the infringer from deleting the evidence, which would make it impossible for you to prove the infringement. So always gather the evidence before you send the cease-and-desist letter.
  • Online infringement: Take as many screenshots as possible, including the date.
  • Offline infringement: for example, a newspaper or magazine publication—make a copy of it.
• Determine the amount of your damages: for example, what is your usual (licensing)fee?
• What exactly do you hope to achieve with the cease-and-desist letter? Do you want the infringement to stop, or would you rather reach an agreement with the infringer? This might actually yield better results than seeking damages. For that reason, it’s also wise not to call or email beforehand. Emotions can run high in this situation, and you might not achieve what you set out to do.
• Send a demand letter by certified mail and by email.

*There are a number of exceptions to this:

• A photograph may also be used as a quotation, for example in a review. In that case, the creator’s permission is not required, but the photographer’s name must be credited. For this exception to apply, the format must clearly differ from the original being quoted, the quotation must not cause the photographer any economic harm, and the photograph must not be perceived as a separate element from the text.
• Embedding: If the creator has never granted permission for the digital publication of their work, then you may not link to that content either. However, if certain content has been lawfully published online with the copyright holder’s permission and another party refers to it via a hyperlink—which does not reach a new audience—then this does not constitute an infringement. So be sure to check the source code carefully to see whether the work has been uploaded or embedded (and where it comes from).

Download a demand letter for photographers

CultuurCollege offers a demand letter for photographers. You can download it here.

Disclaimer

For this article, we drew on the knowledge and expertise of CultuurCollege and Marlous Roelofs, Esq.

If, based on your expertise, you have any knowledge related to this topic, or if you see ways to improve this text, we would love to hear from you at info@cultuuracademy.nl.