My photo is being used in an ad or to sell something — what now?
Commercial use of your face without consent is the clearest image-rights violation there is — takedown plus payment is the normal outcome, not just takedown.
- Evidence, then valuationScreenshots of the ad in place (platform, dates, reach if visible), the product it sells, and where they got the photo. Commercial misuse claims are worth money — document like it.
- One formal demand letterTo the advertiser: cease use immediately on all channels, disclose where the image came from and everywhere it ran (Art. 15!), and pay a licence-equivalent fee — what they would have paid a model for this use. Fourteen days. Real companies fold here; the fee ask is standard, not greedy.
- Report the ad at platform levelAd platforms ban unauthorised likeness use — report via the ad itself (the “why am I seeing this / report ad” flow). Scam ads with stolen faces (fake endorsements, crypto scams) have priority queues; report those as scams, not just image misuse.
- AI-generated “you” counts doubleA deepfaked face or voice endorsing something is both image misuse and, under the AI Act, unlabelled synthetic content — report to the platform citing both, and to your DPA. Public figures fight this weekly; the tools work for everyone.
- Escalate where the money isNo response: DPA complaint (unlawful processing, no consent basis exists for commercial likeness use) AND small-claims or civil action for the fee plus damages — national portrait/image-rights law does the heavy lifting, and courts award licence fees routinely. A photographer’s copyright in the photo can be a parallel claim if you took or own it.
Why this one is winnable: courts across Europe treat commercial exploitation of a person’s likeness as the strongest image-rights case — no journalism defence, no public-interest balance, just someone monetising your face. The licence-fee logic (“pay what lawful use would have cost”) gives judges an easy number, which is why demand letters citing it settle. Where the “advertiser” is a ghost (scam ads), skip to platform + police + de-indexing, and warn your own network — stolen-face scam ads recycle across platforms.
Verified against the sources above on 18 July 2026. Information, not legal advice.