Image theft evidence for photographers, illustrators, e-shops and creators
Someone is using your photo? Prove it is yours.
You cannot stop the copy. You can prove you made it first, and lock down the theft before the page vanishes.
Watermarks get cropped, AI upscalers rebuild the resolution, and social platforms strip your metadata on upload. ProofSnap gives you what those cannot: a certified, timestamped record of your original, and of the page that stole it.
Also available for Microsoft Edge
From $4.99 one-time · or 7 days free (card required) · first capture in under a minute
Framed coastal print, ready to hang
Illustrative example. ProofSnap timestamps your original as proof of priority, and captures the infringing page as proof of the theft, before it is taken down.
Every package can be verified by anyone, for free, in the open Trust Verifier.
Quick answer
How do I prove I own a photo, and that someone stole it?
You prove two things: that the work is yours and from when, and that someone else is using it. Capture the infringing page, listing or post with a certified timestamp before it is deleted (your proof of the theft), then timestamp your original to lock in your creation date (your proof of priority). Each capture is hashed with SHA-256, sealed with a certified timestamp and packaged into an evidence ZIP you can verify for free. A one-time SnapPack is $4.99.
What about a screenshot or a watermark? A screenshot you take yourself has no provable date and is easy to challenge on authentication (US courts test this under FRE 901), watermarks get cropped, and platforms strip EXIF on upload. The infringer can pull the page the moment you complain. ProofSnap captures the page instantly with a SHA-256 hash and a certified timestamp that cannot be backdated, so nothing is lost while the page is still up. ProofSnap is an evidence tool, not legal advice.
Why the usual "protection" does not prove a thing
You cannot stop a screenshot or a right-click. What matters is being able to prove authorship and priority when the copy shows up. Here is where the common defenses fail.
Watermarks get cropped
A visible watermark can be cut off, cloned out or covered. It slows a casual thief, but it does not survive a determined one, and it does not establish when you created the work.
Metadata is stripped on upload
Instagram and Facebook run every upload through a pipeline that removes EXIF, including your name, camera and timestamp. The copy that circulates online arrives with its history already gone, and metadata can be edited anyway.
AI closes the resolution gap
"They only have a low-res copy" is no longer a defense. AI upscalers rebuild a small stolen thumbnail into a print-ready file, so poor resolution no longer marks the copy as inferior to your original.
The infringer controls the page
The listing, profile or article lives on a site the other side controls. The moment you complain, they can edit the caption, swap the file or delete the page. A screenshot with no provable date is easy to dismiss as edited.
A screenshot alone is easy to challenge
This is the gap that decides cases. A screenshot you took yourself has no provable date and is simple to dismiss as edited, and the other side can demand you authenticate it (in the US, under FRE 901). The infringing page lives on a site the other side controls, so it can vanish the moment you reach out. You need capture here and now, with a date that cannot be disputed: the full page, a SHA-256 hash and a certified timestamp in under a minute, before the original is taken down.
Watch your ownership evidence vanish on upload
The same file, before and after you post it. The one line that survives is the one a platform cannot strip.
Your original file
Author Jane Doe
Camera Sony A7 IV
Date 2023-03-14
GPS 37.81, -122.47
After upload to a social platform
Author Jane Doe stripped
Camera Sony A7 IV stripped
Date 2023-03-14 stripped
GPS 37.81, -122.47 stripped
The whole case is one question: who was first?
A certified timestamp answers it in a way a watermark, a metadata field or a screenshot cannot.
Your original
certified 14 Mar 2023
Their listing appears
captured 4 Jul 2026
Your certified original predates the copy by three years. That is proof of priority, and it cannot be backdated.
Two jobs, one extension
Winning an image-theft case comes down to two pieces of evidence. ProofSnap creates both, each sealed with a certified timestamp.
ProofSnap web capture
Capture the theft before it disappears
This is the one that cannot wait. Found the copy on a marketplace, a website or a social feed? Capture the full page with its URL, content and date now, because the page is on a site the infringer controls and can pull the minute you reach out. A reverse image search (try Google Images or TinEye) often shows the same file on several sites at once, so grab each one.
Full-page screenshot, HTML source, metadata and a certified timestamp, preserved even after the page is taken down.
ProofSnap File Certification
Then prove you made it first
Once the theft is locked down, use ProofSnap File Certification, built into the same extension and included in every plan, to timestamp your original files. Point it at your photo, illustration or design (.jpg, .raw, .psd, .ai) and your creation date is certified, so you never have to prove priority from scratch again. The file never leaves your device; only its hash is timestamped. For an online portfolio page, capture the URL the same way as in job 1.
How ProofSnap File Certification works
Only the 64-character hash is sent for timestamping, so the file itself never leaves your device. Included in every ProofSnap plan, even the $4.99 SnapPack. See exactly how ProofSnap File Certification works →
Even better done the day you publish. A timestamped original is the strongest answer to "I made it first."
7 days free (card required), then from $4.99 one-time or $8.99/mo
Chrome extension
What ProofSnap looks like
It all happens in the browser side panel. Open the infringing page, click once, and in under a minute you have a complete evidence package. Nothing to install on your computer and no files to upload anywhere.
- Full-page capture with the URL, content, HTML source and metadata
- Certified timestamp and SHA-256 hash on every capture
- A short video proof and a provenance certificate
- Free verification of any package in the open Trust Verifier
7 days free (card required), then from $4.99 one-time. Also available for Microsoft Edge.
One click. One evidence ZIP.
Every capture produces a complete evidence package you can hand to a platform, a lawyer or a court. Depending on your plan it holds 11 to 15 files, each hashed and sealed.
Everything is verifiable by anyone, for free, in the open Trust Verifier.
Inside the signed evidence ZIP
Tamper-evident
Every file is hashed with SHA-256 and the manifest is signed. Change one pixel and verification fails, which is exactly what makes it credible.
Independently dated
A Bitcoin OpenTimestamps anchor, plus an eIDAS qualified timestamp from Disig a.s. on higher tiers, proves the capture existed at a point in time.
Provenance certificate
An anti-deepfake provenance check, so the other side cannot argue your evidence is the fabricated one.
Open the ZIP, read the PDF, verify the hash. Judge it for yourself before you install.
Real cases. Real money.
Every one of these turned on whether the creator could prove authorship and a date. Certified evidence is what makes that provable.
Architectural photographer Scott Hargis found 42 of his images used in a senior-living chain's marketing without a license. A 2023 jury called every use willful and awarded the maximum $150,000 per image: $6.3 million, the largest statutory-damages verdict for photography in US history.
Photographer Andrew Paul Leonard licensed rare stem-cell images that were reused far beyond the license. The Third Circuit upheld a $1.6 million actual-damages award, showing what a single set of images can be worth when the record is clear.
Source: CDAS LLP
Photographer Daniel Morel posted Haiti earthquake photos to Twitter. An agency grabbed them, credited someone else and resold them to major outlets. A jury awarded maximum statutory damages: his timestamped post proved he was first.
Source: PBS NewsHour
Real-estate photographer Jennifer Bouma shot a $1.9M home, then found a viral account had republished her photos to millions without credit or payment. She did not discover it for over two years. Timestamped originals would have made the case open-and-shut.
Source: PetaPixel, Aug 2024
Nearly two in three professional photographers had work stolen more than 200 times in a single year, per image-monitoring service Pixsy, which reports over 350 million matches found online. Theft is not an edge case, it is the baseline.
Source: Pixsy
Post-usage licensing works. Services like Copytrack and Pixsy send a back-license invoice to unlicensed users, and a large share settle without a lawsuit. A certified capture of the infringing use is what makes that invoice stick.
Source: Pixsy
More than half of professional photographers have already lost work to generative AI, an Association of Photographers survey found in January 2026, with an average loss near $48,000 each. Scraped and AI-rebuilt images make a certified original more valuable, not less.
Source: PetaPixel, Jan 2026
The other side of the coin. Same statute, but without registration and clear, dated evidence one photographer's award was cut to just $940 (reported 2024). Documentation is the difference between $940 and $150,000. That is exactly what the evidence package is for.
Source: Plagiarism Today, Nov 2024
In every case, a certified, timestamped original and a preserved capture of the infringing use would have strengthened the creator's hand. ProofSnap creates both, with timestamps that cannot be faked or backdated.
Watermark, metadata, screenshot, or certified evidence
The first three deter or annotate. Only the last one proves authorship, a date, and that the theft existed.
| What it does | ProofSnap | Watermark | EXIF metadata | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proves your creation date | No | Editable | No | |
| Survives cropping and re-upload | Croppable | Stripped | ||
| Preserves the infringing page | No | No | Fakeable | |
| Tamper-evident (SHA-256 + signature) | No | No | No | |
| Independent certified timestamp | Included | No | No | No |
| Typical cost | From $4.99 | Free | Free | Free |
What about C2PA Content Credentials, now shipping in some phone cameras? They record origin at the moment of capture, which is useful, but like EXIF they are stripped by most platforms on re-upload, and they say nothing about the page that stole your work. ProofSnap is complementary: it captures the infringement independently and timestamps it, so you have proof even when the credentials are gone.
Image theft and copyright around the world
An original photo is protected the moment you create it, with no registration or formality, in the 180+ countries that signed the Berne Convention, which is every major English-speaking market. What changes country to country is the remedy and how damages are calculated. Your evidence does not change: a timestamped original (priority) and a certified capture of the infringing page (the theft).
United States
Primary marketFile a DMCA takedown, or sue. Statutory damages run $750 to $30,000 per work, up to $150,000 for willful infringement, but you must register the copyright to sue and to claim them. Screenshots are challenged under FRE 901; a certified capture meets the authentication bar.
United Kingdom
BerneUnder the CDPA 1988 protection is automatic, no registration. You recover damages (a reasonable licence fee) or an account of profits, plus additional damages where the infringement was flagrant (s97(2)). No eIDAS presumption post-Brexit, but the certified timestamp is strong proof of date and integrity.
Canada
BerneThe Copyright Act protects your work on creation (registration optional). It provides statutory damages of CAD 500 to 20,000 per work for commercial infringement, and CAD 100 to 5,000 for non-commercial. Act within the 3-year limitation. No eIDAS presumption; the timestamp is strong technical proof.
Australia and New Zealand
BerneThe Copyright Act 1968 (AU) and Copyright Act 1994 (NZ) protect photos automatically, no registration. You claim compensatory damages (the licence fee) plus additional damages for flagrant infringement (AU s115(4), NZ s121), which the courts use as a deterrent, especially for digital reuse.
Ireland
EU, eIDASPhotos are protected as artistic works under the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, automatically and without registration. As an EU member, an eIDAS qualified timestamp carries the presumption of accuracy of date and integrity under Article 41(2), so the other side has to rebut it.
Nigeria, South Africa, the Gulf
BerneNigeria (Copyright Act 2022), South Africa (Copyright Act 1978) and the Gulf states are Berne members: your photo is protected on creation. Electronic-evidence laws such as the UAE Federal Decree-Law 35/2022 and the Saudi Law of Evidence give a digital record the same weight as writing when its integrity is shown, which is exactly what a certified capture proves.
The eIDAS qualified-timestamp legal presumption (Article 41(2)) applies in the EU, which among English-speaking markets means Ireland. In the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa and the Gulf, the certified timestamp is strong technical proof of date and integrity that the court weighs under local law. In every case, ProofSnap is an evidence tool, not legal advice: for your situation, consult a qualified lawyer.
Your photo was just stolen? Capture first, then choose your route.
Capture everything before you make contact. Once the infringer knows you have found them, the page can change or vanish. Grab the infringing page, the seller or profile, your original, and any licensing message, each with a certified timestamp.
DMCA and platform takedown
Instagram, Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Pinterest, TikTok and Google all have an IP reporting form that asks for the infringing URL and proof of your work. A certified capture of the page plus your timestamped original is exactly what they need. For the full route, see our DMCA takedown and copyright evidence guide.
Back-license invoice
Rather than just remove the copy, bill for the use. This is the Copytrack and Pixsy model, and a large share settle without a lawsuit. The certified capture proves the unlicensed use existed on a specific date, so the invoice is hard to wave away.
Statutory-damages claim
In the US, register your copyright and statutory damages run $750 to $30,000 per image, up to $150,000 when the infringement is willful, plus attorney fees. Many IP lawyers take strong, well-documented cases on contingency. Your evidence package is the documentation.
Defend against a false claim
If a reseller files a fake claim on your own listing, your timestamped original predating theirs answers it. On Etsy and Amazon, sellers use certified originals to get wrongly removed listings reinstated. For an ongoing program, see brand protection.
Pricing
One recovered license or claim pays for years of ProofSnap. Same integrity in every plan: SHA-256 hash, signed manifest, Bitcoin timestamp and a provenance certificate, packaged into an 11 to 15 file evidence ZIP you can verify for free.
Standard SnapPack
10 captures · no expiration · one-time purchase
Pay-as-you-go, no subscription and no auto-renewal. All features: full-page capture, metadata, a short video proof, provenance certificate and blockchain timestamp. Ideal for documenting one theft.
eIDAS SnapPack
EU qualified timestamps (Disig a.s.)
$5.00 / stamp · also 1× $6.99 or 10× $49.99
Adds a qualified eIDAS timestamp per capture (Article 41), with a legal presumption of accuracy across the EU. Whitelabel branding on the evidence PDF.
Subscription
Essential · Professional · Enterprise
Annual plans save 20%
For regular use: monthly capture allowances, File Certification and eIDAS stamps on higher tiers. Includes a 7-day free trial (a credit card is required to start).
Prefer no subscription and no auto-renewal? The Standard SnapPack at $4.99 is a one-time purchase. SnapPacks are bought inside the extension after you install it. See the full ProofSnap pricing and features on getproofsnap.com.
Tax-deductible: ProofSnap is a legitimate business expense for photographers, illustrators, designers and e-shops. One successful license recovery or claim pays for it many times over.
Free to install · from $4.99 one-time · or 7 days free (card required)