# Your Photos Are on Pinterest: The Copyright Form, the Agent Email, and the 'Remove All' Ask

Source: https://copyguardhq.com/blog/2026-11-10-photos-on-pinterest-copyright-removal/

CopyGuardHQ blog · 2026-11-08


Published 2026-11-10

A brand owner searched Pinterest for her own product and found it pinned a hundred times. The pins linked to a store that was not hers, selling a copy of her product, using her photos. She had never been on Pinterest. Her photos had been there for months, driving traffic to a counterfeiter, and she had no idea. The fix took an afternoon, a form, and an email, and the pins came down. The part that took the longest was finding out where to send it.

Pinterest is a particular problem for photo theft, because a pin is not a listing. It is a link, and the link can point anywhere. The counterfeiter pins your product photo, the pin links to their store, and the traffic flows to them. The photo is yours. The traffic is theirs. The platform that hosts the pin is the one that has to take it down, and the DMCA gives you the tool to make them do it.

## The form, and what to put in it

Pinterest has a copyright complaint form, and it is the fastest route. The form asks for the work that was infringed, the URLs where it appears, and a statement that you are the owner or the owner's agent, made under penalty of perjury. The Pixsy guide to DMCA takedowns lists the same elements for every platform: identify the work, identify where it appears, state that you own it, and swear to it. The form is the structured version of that list, and it is faster than an email because the platform built it to be processed.

The work is the photo, and the identification has to be specific. A link to the original photo on your own site, the date it was published, and a description of what it shows. The infringing URLs are the pins, and there may be many of them. A hundred pins is a hundred URLs, and the form will take them, but it is worth grouping them: the pins that link to the counterfeiter's store, the pins that are repins of the same image, and the pins that are the image used in a different context. The grouping helps the reviewer see the pattern, and the pattern is what gets the whole set taken down rather than one pin at a time.

## The agent email, when the form is not enough

If the form does not work, or the pins keep coming back, the next step is the designated agent email. Every platform that hosts user content has a designated DMCA agent, and Pinterest is no exception. The Clearline guide to DMCA takedowns explains the structure: the notice goes to the agent, it identifies the work and the infringing URLs, and it includes the same sworn statement. The email is slower than the form, but it is also more flexible, because it can include an attachment with the evidence, a list of all the pins, and a request that covers future pins of the same image.

The email should be short, specific, and complete. The work, the URLs, the statement of ownership, and the contact details. Nothing else. A long email with a story about the counterfeiter slows the review down. A short email with the facts gets processed. The agent is not a judge. They are a processor, and the notice that is easiest to process is the one that gets acted on first.

## The 'remove all' ask

The ask that matters most is the one most people forget: remove all instances of the image, not just the pins listed. A takedown that names a hundred pins and leaves the hundred and first up is a takedown that has to be filed again next week. The form and the email both allow the request, but it has to be made explicitly. Ask for the removal of all pins containing the image, including repins and future uploads of the same image, and ask the platform to block re-uploads of it.

The platform may or may not honor the full ask, and that depends on the platform. Pinterest's systems can match an image and block re-uploads, but only if the request is made and the image is registered in their system. The request has to be specific enough for the system to match it: the same image, the same crop, the same file. A vague request for all copies of my product photos is not specific enough. A request that names the image, the URL where it lives, and the pins that use it is.

Keep reading: [stolen photos on Instagram and TikTok](https://copyguardhq.com/blog/2026-11-09-instagram-tiktok-stolen-photos-takedown/), [watermark vs metadata as photo proof](https://copyguardhq.com/blog/2026-11-04-watermark-vs-metadata-photo-proof/), and [the evidence pack a takedown needs](https://copyguardhq.com/blog/2026-10-28-takedown-evidence-pack-chain/) cover the nearby cases in this series.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I report my stolen photos on Pinterest?

Use Pinterest's copyright complaint form. It asks for the work that was infringed, the URLs where it appears, and a statement that you are the owner or the owner's agent, made under penalty of perjury. The form is the fastest route because the platform built it to be processed.

### What do I need to prove the photos are mine?

A link to the original photo on your own site, the date it was published, and a description of what it shows. The identification has to be specific. A hundred pins is a hundred URLs, and grouping them helps the reviewer see the pattern: the pins that link to the counterfeiter's store, the repins, and the image used in a different context.

### What is a DMCA designated agent, and when do I email one?

Every platform that hosts user content has a designated DMCA agent. If the form does not work, or the pins keep coming back, send the notice to the agent by email. It identifies the work and the infringing URLs, includes the same sworn statement, and can include an attachment with the evidence and a list of all the pins.

### Can I ask Pinterest to remove all copies of my photo, not just the ones I list?

Yes, and you should. Ask for the removal of all pins containing the image, including repins and future uploads of the same image, and ask the platform to block re-uploads. The request has to be specific enough for the system to match it: the same image, the same crop, the same file.

### What if the pins come back after I get them taken down?

File again, and this time ask for the image to be registered in the platform's matching system so re-uploads are blocked. The platform's systems can match an image and block re-uploads, but only if the request is made and the image is registered. A takedown that names the pins and leaves the next upload up is a takedown that has to be filed again next week.