My property's photos are on a fake website - how do I remove them?
You remove them by going over the site's head: look up the domain's registrar and hosting provider at rdap.org, and send each a DMCA takedown notice identifying your original photos and the infringing URLs. Fraudulent sites ignore contact forms, but registrars and hosts process abuse reports - their terms require it.
Step 1 - Find who's behind the infrastructure
Every domain has a registrar; every website has a host. Enter the domain at rdap.org or lookup.icann.org:
- Registrar and its abuse email are listed directly in the record.
- Host: the record's nameservers or the site's IP addresses point to the hosting network; that network's abuse contact is in its own RDAP/WHOIS record.
Step 2 - Send the DMCA notice
A takedown notice under Section 512 is a short, factual letter. It must contain:
- identification of your copyrighted work (your original listing URL or photo set),
- the exact infringing URLs,
- a good-faith statement that the use is unauthorized,
- a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you're authorized to act,
- your signature and contact details.
Email it to both abuse addresses. Hosts frequently disable whole fraudulent sites on a valid notice, which is faster than arguing photo by photo. Keep your evidence (screenshots, saved pages, dates) attached.
Step 3 - Cut off discovery
While the takedown processes, reduce the fake site's reach:
- File the URLs with Google's legal removal tool to de-index them from search.
- Report the domain as fraudulent to browsers' safe-browsing programs via Google Safe Browsing's report form.
Step 4 - Report the fraud itself
Photo theft is the copyright half; collecting deposits with your photos is the fraud half. Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov or ic3.gov (US), or Action Fraud (UK). A case number strengthens every later report - and matters if victims come to you.
What if the registrar ignores me?
Escalate to the registry for that TLD (the RDAP record names it), and re-send weekly with "Second notice" in the subject. Persistence works; fraud sites are disposable and providers drop them rather than argue. If the volume of clones justifies it, continuous monitoring with pre-filled takedown paperwork - what Bikoosh automates - turns each repeat into a ten-minute task.
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