Cease and desist letter for photo theft: a step-by-step with template

Your photo shows up uninvited on a news site, in a blog, or as someone's LinkedIn banner. What now? For most photographers, a cease and desist letter is the first step before involving a lawyer. You don't need to hire one to draft it, but there are a few elements you can't skip.

This guide walks through the six parts of a working cease and desist, gives you a template you can adapt, and covers what to do if the other party ignores you. If you have just found your photo used without permission and are still deciding which step to take, start with someone used my photo without permission: what now?.

First: lock down your evidence

Before you approach the other party, capture what you found. A cease and desist without evidence is a warning without teeth.

What you need:

1. A full-page screenshot, not just the photo. URL, date, and timestamp visible. Chrome's print-to-PDF function does this fine.
2. The original filename, EXIF data, and the date you took the photo. This proves the work is yours.
3. A second independent piece of evidence that the photo was there on that date. The Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) is free and can help support your evidence file.

Save everything in a separate folder per case. Tempting to put off, but pages get edited and evidence vanishes faster than you think.

The six parts of a cease and desist letter

A cease and desist isn't a magical legal incantation. It's a clear letter that tells the other party what's happening, what you expect, and by when.

1. Identify both parties

Your full name, business registration number if applicable, and their company name plus a contact person. Skip "Dear Sir/Madam" if you can find a name.

2. Which photo, where, and when

Be concrete. "The photograph with filename IMG_4823.jpg, taken by me on March 12, 2024, published without my permission at [URL] from [date]." Attach the screenshot as Exhibit A.

3. The legal hook

One sentence is enough. "This use occurs without a license and without attribution, in violation of [your country's copyright statute]." Don't turn it into a legal essay.

4. What it costs

This is where the money comes in. Look up your country's photographers' association tariffs (NVF in the Netherlands, BFP in Germany, ASMP in the US, AOP in the UK). For editorial online use, the base license typically lands between €150 and €400 or local equivalent, depending on prominence and duration. On top of that:

• Missing attribution: a surcharge can be justified. Depending on the jurisdiction and circumstances, this can range from a modest percentage to a full extra licence fee (moral rights provisions).
• Commercial use instead of editorial: 2 to 5 times the base rate.
• Additional damages or surcharge: depending on the circumstances, a surcharge on top of the licence fee can be defensible, for example for commercial use, missing permission, loss of exclusivity, or detection costs.

Calculate it and put the number in the letter. No vague "a reasonable fee".

5. What they have to do

Be explicit. Three things:

1. Remove the photo from the site.
2. Pay the calculated amount to your account (give your IBAN or bank details).
3. Confirm in writing that this won't happen again.

Give them a deadline. Fourteen days is standard. Shorter feels aggressive, longer gives them room to ignore you.

6. What if they don't respond

Close with a factual line: "If we have not received a response by [date], we will refer the matter for collection and pursue any legal remedies we deem necessary."

Not a bluff. Stick to it.

The template

Copy and adapt. Put it on your own letterhead or in a clean Word template with your details at the top.

[Your business name] [Address] [Registration number] [Date]

To: [Recipient company] Attn: [Contact person, or "the management"] [Address]

Re: Photo copyright infringement, demand for payment and removal

Dear [name],

On [date], I discovered that the website [URL] is using a photograph created by me, of which I am the sole copyright holder. The photo was placed without my permission and without attribution. Evidence of this use is attached as Exhibit A.

This use occurs without a license and without attribution, in violation of [applicable law].

Based on standard industry tariffs, I calculate the claim as follows:

• Editorial online license: € 250.00
• Missing attribution surcharge: € 125.00 to € 250.00
• Additional compensation for unauthorised use and enforcement costs: € 250.00 to € 500.00

Indicative total: € 625.00 to € 1,000.00

I demand that within fourteen days of the date of this letter you:

1. Remove the photo from [URL];
2. Pay the indicative amount of € 625.00 to € 1,000.00 (see breakdown) to IBAN [your IBAN];
3. Confirm in writing that the photo will not be used again without an explicit license.

If I have not received a response within fourteen days, I will refer the matter for collection and pursue any legal remedies I deem necessary. The costs of doing so will be charged to you.

Sincerely,

[Name]

That's it. A cease and desist should fit on one page.

What if they don't respond

Roughly a third of cease and desist letters get no answer. That's normal. Three options:

1. Second notice via process server. A bailiff or process server often costs somewhere around €75 to €150, depending on the country and service. The arrival of formal correspondence often gets attention: the recipient sees this is serious.
2. Collections agency. Works on no-cure-no-pay basis for 15 to 25 percent of the recovered sum. Useful if you don't want to chase it yourself.
3. Lawyer and possibly a lawsuit. As a rough rule of thumb, only sensible above €1,500 or so, otherwise the costs eat the recovery. A specialist copyright lawyer charges €200 to €350 per hour.

What NOT to do

• Don't write angry. Emotion weakens your position. Every sentence should be dry and factual.
• Don't negotiate against yourself before the deadline. If they reply with "we'll pay €100", don't immediately accept. You have a substantiated calculation. That's your position.
• Don't rely on a single piece of evidence. Wayback Machine plus screenshot is the minimum.
• Don't threaten things you won't do. If you say "legal action within fourteen days" and then do nothing, you teach the market your demands aren't serious.

And finding the infringement in the first place?

Most cease and desist letters start with an accidental discovery: someone sends you a link, or you see your photo in a Google search result. That's an unreliable way to protect a portfolio, because you only find what swims under your nose.

A proactive web scan for copies of your photos solves that. ImageTrace compares your photos against millions of web pages and gives you a list of potential unauthorised uses, with URLs and visual context you can review before sending a letter. ImageTrace also generates a PDF cease and desist letter per matched URL, with the screenshot embedded, in NL or EN. A scan of one photo costs five euros in the Standard tier, lower at higher tiers. Not every photo deserves a cease and desist, but it's good to know which ones do.