Today, everything is posted online—images, videos, learning materials, and even creative interior designs. But once online, how do interior design businesses prevent others from wrongly claiming ownership of your images?

Interior designers are both artists and entrepreneurs. They need to get active online to attract clients, build a reputation, and network with other professionals. But, once these images hit the internet—be it on social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, in press features, or on directories like Houzz—these images become vulnerable to misuse, replication, or outright theft. Sadly, a single right-click is all it can take for someone to download your images without your consent.

This vulnerability has heightened the awareness of image ownership and copyright among interior designers. To protect your intellectual property, let's discuss...

• what is image ownership
• what counts as image theft
• what to do if someone steals your work

You take pride in your work, and only you can take credit for them!

Defining image ownership

While it's a hard pill to swallow, interior designs are not subject to copyright under the U.S. intellectual property law. Only the images of them are.

This is because the law only recognises the images of a design as artistic property and not the design itself. This means that even after dedicating your time, effort, and expertise to a project, the photographer legally owns the rights to the captured images.

Photographers usually grant designers a license or permission to use these images as a part of their service. But even so, this doesn't stop other people online from misusing these images and credit-grabbing. This poses a threat to photographers and interior designers alike, but more so to designers who do not own any legal rights to these images.

What counts as image theft?

Image theft can manifest in various forms. While reposting can be acceptable in certain situations with proper credit, it's vital to always seek the creator's consent and provide clear attribution. Unfortunately, practices like using "ctto" (credit to the owner) or omitting credit altogether are widespread, despite violating the designer's rights and control.

Two of the most common forms of image theft are unauthorised image posting and credit grabbing. These two usually come hand in hand together—a person or entity posts a design on their page, crops out or removes the watermark, and claims it as theirs.

This, unfortunately, happens all too often, as exemplified by Lindsay Black, a Tennessee-based interior designer. In her experience, a vendor had cropped out her fixture on a photo of her home revamp and posted it as a listing for budget lighting on Bed Bath and Beyond. Worse, after posting about her experience, her followers sent her more examples of her photos getting reposted on Lowe's, Amazon, and even eBay. Marissa Nelums, CEO of Glass House Interior, also had a similar experience. Except, it was regrettably done by another interior design studio.

Another form of image theft is image doctoring. This is the unauthorised altering or manipulating of images to use them for advertisements, listings, videos, and so on. An infamous example was when Home Depot created an advertisement out of replicated images from other designers' portfolios.

What to do if someone steals your interior design work

If you find out that someone has stolen photos of your interior design project, then you have to act fast. Make sure to give a quick call to your photographer since this issue will affect them as well.

There are several ways to address this issue. The most basic and obvious thing to do is to carefully read the fine print. Clearly outline the terms of use for your designs and specify how they can be used to prevent disputes down the line. This will also serve as vital proof should you need to take the issue to court.

Another solution is to use AI for image recognition and monitoring. While generative AI poses a problem among designers due to some people using it to create replicas of existing designs, some AI tools can help you track the use of your images online and identify instances of unauthorised use. This way, you'll know who to reach out to or who to file a case against. In addition, you can also use AI tools to watermark your images with your logo or invisible signatures which can later prove ownership of your work.

Moooi, a Dutch furniture brand, has also developed a new tool that verifies authenticity called the Button. This tool is shaped as a small white disc with a raised pattern containing a microchip. By downloading the app on a smartphone or tablet and scanning the Button, you receive a product description that lets you know who the creator is. To register a product on the Button, all you have to do is tap the Button and you'll be redirected to the Moooi website.

Last but not least, own it! Make sure that your media is louder and more established than other reposts. This way, your followers become familiar with your work and can help you track down other entities who have stolen or reposted your images. If possible, you should also take time to check if photos of your designs have been reposted anywhere and see to it that you and your photographer receive credit for it. If not, send emails or messages to them to reinforce this or ask them to take it down.

Image ownership for interior designers in a nutshell...

Every day, interior designers are challenged to protect their work from image theft. Since the U.S. intellectual property law only subjects the image to copyright, you have to work with your photographer to protect your design from unauthorised use.

Image theft manifests in various forms, from unauthorised image posting to credit grabbing and image doctoring. These practices not only violate the creator's rights but also undermine their control over their work.

To address image theft, designers should combine technological solutions, like AI, with traditional approaches like careful contract crafting and assertive ownership. AI can be used for image recognition and monitoring. While innovations like the Button by Moooi offer novel ways to verify the authenticity of designs and provide information about their original creators.