I'm an amateur photographer and, unfortunately, you see this come up a lot in photography communities online, but you don't hear about most cases in the media.

I'm an amateur photographer and, unfortunately, you see this come up a lot in photography communities online, but you don't hear about most cases in the media. You'd be surprised how many businesses will just openly steal images from any website or social media platform and use them without notice, credit, or payment. Unfortunately watermarks are either easily cropped out or they ruin the picture (like by spanning the whole image with transparent text). There are some resources for the little guy like Pixsy[0] but reports of their efficacy are mixed. The usual advice if you find your image being used without permission is to ask the offender nicely, send them an invoice, or get a lawyer involved, depending on how far you want to take it. [0] https://pixsy.com/ https://pixsy.com/