The Service
What copyright infringement response actually involves.
Copyright infringement occurs when someone reproduces, distributes, displays, or creates derivative works from your copyrighted material without authorization. It happens constantly online: your photographs appear on competitor websites, your writing is republished without credit or payment, your illustrations show up on merchandise being sold without a license, your code is copied into commercial products. When it happens to you, the question is not whether you have been wronged. The question is what you can actually do about it.
The answer depends significantly on whether your work is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office. With a registration, you can file a federal lawsuit and seek statutory damages of up to $150,000 per willful infringement plus attorney fees, without having to prove the actual financial harm the infringement caused you. Without a registration, you are limited to actual damages, which are often difficult to quantify and rarely justify the cost of litigation.
Most infringement situations are resolved before litigation. A formal cease and desist letter from an attorney citing your copyright registration puts the infringer on legal notice and demands they stop. Many infringers comply promptly when faced with a letter that accurately describes the legal exposure they face. Others negotiate a licensing arrangement or damages settlement. Litigation is the exception, not the rule, but having registration and a competent attorney behind the letter is what makes it credible.
Armani starts every infringement response with a rights assessment: reviewing your registration status, the infringing use, the strength of your claim, and the most effective path to resolution. She advises on realistic outcomes before any work is done so you can make an informed decision about how to proceed.
What's Included
What infringement response covers.
Who It's For
For any creator whose work is being used without permission.
Copyright infringement takes many forms. These are the situations that most commonly lead creators to this service.
Process
From rights assessment to resolution, step by step.
Submit details about your work, your copyright registration status if applicable, the identity of the infringer, and the specific infringing use you have identified. Include any evidence you have gathered such as screenshots, URLs, or product listings.
Armani reviews your registration status, the infringing use, and the strength of your claim. She advises on the realistic remedies available, the most effective first step, and what the likely path to resolution looks like before any action is taken.
An attorney-drafted cease and desist letter citing your copyright rights is delivered to the infringer demanding they stop the infringing use and confirm compliance by a stated deadline. You review the letter before it is sent.
Most infringers respond to a formal attorney letter. If they comply, the matter is resolved. If they want to negotiate a license or settlement, Armani handles those communications on your behalf. If they ignore the letter, she advises on next steps.
If the infringer refuses to comply and a negotiated resolution is not possible, Armani advises on escalation options including federal copyright litigation and refers to appropriate litigation counsel when the situation warrants it.
Pricing
Flat fee to start. No government filing fees.
Registration matters for remedies. If your work is not yet registered with the USCO, consider registering before or alongside initiating the infringement response. Registration before or within three months of first publication preserves your access to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per willful infringement. Without registration, you are limited to actual damages, which are much harder to recover. See Creative Work Protection to register your work.
Get Started
Someone is using your work. Start here.
Complete the intake form below with details about your work and the infringing use. Armani will review your situation and advise on the strength of your claim and the best path to resolution before any action is taken.
FAQ
Questions about copyright infringement response.
Yes, but your options are more limited. You own the copyright in your work automatically from the moment of creation, so you can still send a cease and desist letter and demand the infringer stop. However, without a USCO registration you cannot file a federal copyright infringement lawsuit, and you cannot seek statutory damages or attorney fees. If the infringer ignores the cease and desist or refuses to stop, your ability to escalate is substantially constrained without registration. In many cases, registering the work now and then proceeding with the infringement response is still worth doing, even if the infringement has already begun, because registration at least opens up federal court access for ongoing and future infringement.
A DMCA takedown is a specific procedure for removing infringing content from online platforms, websites, and marketplaces. It is directed at the platform hosting the content and requires the platform to remove the material or lose its safe harbor protection. It is the fastest way to get content taken down from social media, e-commerce sites, or third-party websites. An infringement response is directed at the infringer directly and covers the full range of legal enforcement: cease and desist, negotiation, and if necessary, litigation. In many situations both are appropriate, a DMCA takedown to remove the content immediately and a direct infringement response to address the legal claim against the infringer. Armani advises on which approach or combination fits your situation.
If your work is registered before the infringement occurs or within three months of first publication, you can seek statutory damages ranging from $750 to $30,000 per infringed work, or up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. You can also recover attorney fees. These remedies are available without having to prove the actual financial harm the infringement caused, which is often impossible to quantify. If your work is not registered, or was registered after infringement began, you are limited to actual damages, which means the profits the infringer made from the infringement or the losses you can prove you suffered. Actual damages are much harder to establish and rarely justify the cost of litigation in most cases.
This is a common response and it needs to be verified. If someone claims they purchased a license, they should be able to produce the agreement. Armani reviews any license or purchase documentation the infringer provides and advises on whether it actually authorizes the use in question. Many times, even when a creator has sold their work or granted some rights, the specific use the infringer is making falls outside what was authorized. The existence of a payment or agreement does not automatically mean the current use is licensed.
A cease and desist letter can typically be drafted and sent within a few business days of receiving your intake information. How long the overall process takes depends on how the infringer responds. Many situations are resolved within weeks when the infringer complies promptly or negotiates in good faith. If the infringer ignores the letter or refuses to comply, the timeline extends depending on what escalation steps make sense. Armani advises at each stage on realistic timelines based on your specific situation.
International infringement adds complexity but does not eliminate your options. If the infringing content is accessible to U.S. users and hosted on platforms with U.S. operations, DMCA takedown notices can still be effective. A cease and desist letter can still be sent even if the infringer is abroad, though enforcement through U.S. courts is more difficult against foreign defendants. Many countries have their own copyright protections and enforcement mechanisms that may be available depending on where the infringer is located. Armani assesses the specifics of international infringement situations and advises on what practical options exist before any action is taken.