At least once a year, one of our clients forwards us an email from a copyright enforcement company. It is formal, cites international copyright law, specifies the exact URL where the image appears, and requests proof of licence by a specific date. It sounds like this:

“According to the information provided to us, you may be using one or more images in respect of which our customer holds the relevant rights of use and is authorized to enforce them, potentially without a corresponding licence.”

It is designed to feel like a legal threat, because it is one.

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You are legally responsible.

Most of the time, nobody stole anything. A staff member downloaded a licensed photo. An old web agency used an image from their library. The website launched, and no one noticed an old post.

Years later, an image-tracking company scans the web for images that might have been used without a licence. They find yours. They send the email. If you have the licence documentation, the case closes quickly. The problem is finding the paperwork for an image that was added seven years ago by someone who no longer works there.

Many photographers sell their work legitimately through stock photo sites and use enforcement companies to find unlicensed uses on a contingency basis. It is passive income for the photographer. For the enforcement company, it’s a numbers game: scan millions of sites, send thousands of letters, collect on a fraction of them. Nobody is singling your business out. The system is automated.

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What does Honeycomb Creative do to protect our clients?

First, we license images. You can purchase image licenses for about a dollar each; it is not worth the risk. Second, we ensure the images clients send us have the photographer’s permission.

When we build or manage a website, we record where every image came from. In WordPress, every image in the media library has a description field. We paste the source into it — the original filename, the stock library, the licence type. Something like AdobeStock_1393838_XL — Standard licence, purchased 2022.

We rename the image file for SEO. But the original reference stays in the description field, so it’s never lost. It takes ten seconds. It is just a habit.

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What is the legal status of AI-generated images?

AI-generated images differ from stock photography. No licence agreement or purchase confirmation is given. But the legal status of AI-generated images varies by platform, by country, and by how the image was generated. Some platforms transfer commercial rights to the user. Some don’t. Some prohibit commercial use entirely.

“I made it with AI” is not a defence if the tool you used doesn’t give you the rights to use it commercially.

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What to do if you don’t know what’s on your site?

Do a media library audit. For each image, ask: do I know where this came from? Is there a licence?

Use reverse image search. Drag an image into Google Images or TinEye to find the original source. For larger sites, services like Pixsy can scan your media library automatically and flag images that appear in stock libraries.

Remove anything you can’t account for. If you can’t find the source, replace the image. It is not worth the legal exposure.

Replace with something clean. Commissioned photography, reputable stock libraries with a purchase record, or AI tools that explicitly transfer commercial rights (Adobe Firefly, for example, is backed by Adobe’s indemnification policy — verify current terms before relying on it).

Record what you use going forward. The description field in your media library is right there.

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What you need to know as a business owner

Whether a copyright claim resolves quickly or expensively depends on whether you can produce documentation. The fix is boring: keep records, know where your images came from, and do it for AI images too.

Honeycomb Creative builds and manages websites for established B2B businesses. If you’re not sure what’s living in your media library, we’re happy to take a look.