You’re scrolling Instagram when you see it—someone has stolen your content, maybe even your logo or brand name, and is passing it off as their own. It’s a brand’s worst nightmare, and it’s more common than you might think.
Copyright violations on Instagram happen at an alarming rate, affecting everyone from major brands to independent creators.
In fact, our brand protection software detects and takes down thousands of these Instagram infringements for our clients every day.
Left unchecked, these violations can harm your reputation, confuse your audience, and undermine your hard work. The good news? You can take back control with a DMCA takedown request.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to file a DMCA takedown on Instagram with ease. Learn how to quickly report copyright violations and protect your content step by step, without unnecessary hassle or stress.
Step-by-step guide to filing a DMCA takedown on Instagram
1. Gather Evidence
For the best chances that your DMCA takedown request is approved when reporting stolen content on Instagram, you’ll need sufficient evidence of the infringement. Without it, your report may be denied.
Document the Infringing Content
Capture detailed screenshots and record the URLs of posts or accounts using your stolen content. Be thorough in documenting any infringement, including:
- Stolen photos or videos
- Captions misusing your content
- Profile pictures, bios, or any other elements violating your intellectual property
Having this evidence organized not only streamlines the reporting process but also strengthens your case.
Prove Ownership of Your Content
You’ll also need to provide evidence that you are the rightful owner of the content or assets that have been stolen.
Document proof of your ownership through screenshots, URLs, and any other official documents that substantiate your claim, including trademark registrations.
Simplify Evidence Collection with Brand Protection Software
Gathering this evidence manually can be quite time-consuming, especially if you’re dealing with multiple infringements and repeat offenders. An automated brand protection tool like Red Points can simplify and speed up the process.
Red Points brand protection software does the hard work for you, automatically gathering and organizing the necessary evidence to file your takedown. No matter how many infringements you need to address, Red Points allows you to submit numerous takedowns quickly and effectively.
Without the need for manual evidence-gathering and the inevitable inaccuracies that come with it, Red Points saves you time and hassle while providing superior protection for your content and brand.
2. Access the Proper DMCA Form:
Once you’ve gathered proper documentation of the infringement, it’s time to submit your takedown. While you can send a formal DMCA request directly to the infringing account itself, there is no guarantee that they will respond or remove the stolen content.
For the best chances of taking down the infringement quickly, fill out the proper form directly via the Instagram Help Center. Here you’ll find multiple forms you can use to file your DMCA complaint, depending on the type of infringement that has occurred.
Reporting Copyright Infringements
Use Instagram’s copyright report form to report violations involving stolen original content. This includes photos, videos, music, or written works that you created and hold copyright ownership of.
Reporting Trademark Infringements
If your trademarked IP is being misused on Instagram—such as stolen logos, brand names, slogans, or other trademarked assets—use Instagram’s trademark report form.
3. Fill out the Form:
Both the copyright and trademark forms require similar contact information, such as your name, mailing address, and email. Keep in mind this information will likely be shared with the infringing account, so use contact details you’re comfortable disclosing.
Once you’ve provided your contact information, the forms differ slightly depending on the kind of infringement you are reporting.
When reporting a copyright violation, Instagram will ask for:
- The type of content that has been stolen.
- URLs to your copyrighted work.
- URLs linking to the infringing content.
When reporting a trademark violation, Instagram will ask for:
- Documentation proving you are the rights owner.
- A URL to your official website or primary online presence.
- The stolen trademark(s).
- The trademark registration number and a link to the trademark registration (if applicable).
- A scanned copy or screenshot of your trademark registration certificate.
- URLs linking to the trademarked content you are reporting.
Sign Your form
Both forms will require your electronic signature, confirming that your report is made in good faith and that the content violates Instagram’s copyright or trademark policies. Once signed, your form is complete and ready to be filed.
4. Submit the Request:
Now that your form is complete, review the information you’ve provided, ensure all the proper evidence is included, and submit your request.
What happens after I submit my DMCA takedown request?
Once you’ve submitted the proper form, the process moves into Instagram’s hands. You’ll receive an automated email confirming your report has been received.
This email will include a unique report number. Be sure to save this number to reference in any follow-up communication regarding your report.
Instagram’s Review Process
Instagram’s team will assess the evidence you provided to determine if the reported content violates copyright or trademark laws.
If additional information is needed, you’ll receive an email from Instagram requesting more details. Reply directly to this email as soon as possible with the necessary evidence.
Processing Timeline
Instagram doesn’t provide a specific timeline for completing their review of your takedown request. However, in our experience submitting Instagram takedowns for our clients:
- When evidence is clear and thorough, the review process is quite simple and typically only takes a few days.
- If additional clarification is required, the process may require back-and-forth email communication and can take up to a few weeks.
To avoid delays, provide as much detailed evidence up-front in your report, and promptly respond to any follow-up emails from Instagram.
Possible Outcomes to Filing Your Instagram DMCA Takedown
- Successful Takedown
If Instagram agrees that a violation occurred, the stolen content will be removed, and both you and the infringer will be notified.
- Counter-Notification Filed by the Infringer
Once your request has been approved, the infringer can file an appeal to challenge the takedown of their content or account. If their appeal demonstrates no violation occurred, the content will be restored.
- Request Denied
If the evidence you provided is insufficient, your report will be denied, and the reported content or account will be restored.
What to do If your DMCA takedown request Is denied or appealed
If the infringement content isn’t taken down or gets restored, don’t be discouraged. Instagram must comply with copyright and trademark laws to carry out DMCA enforcement when necessary, so a denial often means your initial evidence wasn’t strong enough to meet their standards.
Next Steps to Take:
- Review Instagram’s Feedback
Carefully read any communication from Instagram to understand what evidence was missing or insufficient in your initial request.
- Gather Additional Evidence
Strengthen your case by including clearer documentation or other proof of ownership for the stolen content or intellectual property.
- Resubmit Your Request
Use Instagram’s forms to submit a new request, ensuring all necessary evidence is included.
What is the difference between filing a manual DMCA takedown and using a service like Red Points?
Filing a DMCA manually requires you to track down each infringement yourself, gather evidence, and submit detailed reports to Instagram. This manual process may work for isolated cases, but quickly becomes unmanageable with multiple infringements and repeat offenders.
That’s why an automated service like Red Points is so vital to protecting your brand and content on Instagram. Our software makes the process as simple and effective as possible, with these key features:
1. Proactive Approach
By the time an infringement is identified, it has already had the chance to do damage—whether in the form of reputation or monetary loss. That’s why Red Points software doesn’t just wait for infringements to occur, but provides a proactive solution.
Powered by AI-driven tech, our software identifies and monitors threats before they escalate into large-scale issues. If an infringement occurs, they are flagged and addressed immediately, saving you long-term damage to your brand and reputation.
2. Comprehensive, Personalized Support:
Beyond our industry-leading automated tools, Red Points provides hands-on support through a team of dedicated experts. Our Customer Success Managers (CSMs) work closely with you to deliver personalized assistance at every stage, ensuring your brand remains fully protected.
From resolving technical issues to optimizing protection strategies, our CSMs are always ready to implement solutions tailored to your needs, keeping your brand secure against evolving threats.
3. Scalable Solutions:
Red Points offers personalized, scalable brand protection solutions to fit every brand’s needs—from small businesses to global enterprises.
Whether managing a handful of infringements or thousands, our platform adapts to the unique demands of your business, providing consistent and efficient protection.
Plus, as your business grows, so does our ability to support you. Red Points’ platform seamlessly scales to handle increasing workloads, ensuring that even as the volume of infringements rises, your brand remains secure.
4. Time-Saving Automation:
Red Points transforms the entire brand protection process by automating time-consuming steps such as detection, evidence collection, and DMCA enforcement.
Compared to manual processes, which can take hours—or even days—our automation enables brands to act quickly and decisively against threats, saving time and minimizing potential damage.
To maintain accountability and precision, our automated systems are complemented by human oversight from our internal team, striking a balance between efficiency and quality. This thoughtful integration of automation and expert supervision not only minimizes errors but also ensures that businesses can protect their intellectual property effectively while saving valuable time.
5. Accuracy in Detection and Enforcement:
Equipped with advanced AI tools like image recognition and natural language processing, Red Points’ software detects and ensures the validity of infringements with ease.
These tools offer superior infringement detection, greatly reduce false positives, and ensure your reports are accurate, saving time and enhancing the credibility of enforcement actions.
6. Centralized Management:
Red Points makes it easy to track, organize, and manage infringement cases from one easily accessible place with an all-in-one platform.
Rather than jump between documents, emails, and reports, this dashboard provides a streamlined place to monitor, report, and resolve issues all at once.
With Red Points, your content will be better protected than ever, all while saving you the time and stress of manually enforcing your copyrights and trademarks.
What’s next
As scammers and fraudulent accounts continue targeting creators and brands on Instagram, it’s essential to have a plan in place to handle infringements quickly and accurately. Rather than rely on time-consuming manual monitoring and reporting, Red Points offers a better way to safeguard your brand on Instagram and beyond.
With industry-leading AI tools that work around the clock to identify and takedown infringements, Red Points brand protection software saves you time while better protecting your brand across all online platforms.
Request a demo to learn how Red Points can save you time, lost revenue, and potential damage to your brand by transforming the way you track and tackle infringements in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
