An Amazon copyright complaint means a rights owner has reported that your listing uses their images, text or design without permission. Amazon removes the content or the listing, records the complaint on your Account Health page under the Amazon Intellectual Property Policy, and counts it toward your Account Health Rating. Repeated complaints can lead to deactivation. The reviewer’s question is narrow, whether you own or hold a license for the exact content in question. Most cases are resolved by replacing the content with photos and copy you created, and by obtaining a retraction where your use was licensed. A DMCA counter notice exists for mistaken takedowns, but it is a legal statement made under penalty of perjury, and it should only be filed after legal review. On the US store the counter notice path runs on 17 U.S.C. 512, and on EU stores the Digital Services Act has governed the complaint channels since 17 February 2024.

What an Amazon Copyright Complaint Means

Copyright protects original works of authorship. Amazon’s copyright page for sellers lists videos, movies, songs, books, musicals, video games and paintings as examples. A product photo or a written product description can qualify too. To receive protection, a work must be created by an author and have some amount of creativity. If you are the author of an original work, you typically own the copyright in it.

Amazon applies that rule to listing content in plain terms. You generally own the copyright in a photo you took or a video you filmed of your product. You generally do not own the copyright in photos or videos you found on someone else’s website, and you must not upload that content to a product detail page without the copyright holder’s permission. Amazon’s example uses a brand that photographed its own sheets, where a seller who copies those images to sell a product on another detail page could be violating the brand’s copyright.

The complaint does not depend on whether your product is genuine. A seller can resell authentic goods and still receive a copyright complaint for the photos on the listing. That is the point most sellers miss on their first complaint, and it is why the response focuses on the content and leaves the inventory question aside.

Where the first sale doctrine stops

Amazon’s copyright page explains that you may sell someone else’s copyrighted work if you have the owner’s permission or if the first sale doctrine protects the resale. The doctrine, written into 17 U.S.C. 109(a), lets the owner of a lawfully made copy sell that particular copy without the copyright owner’s authority. Amazon’s own example is a used copy of a book. The doctrine covers the physical item in the box. It does not cover the brand’s product photos, its description or its A+ graphics, so a reseller of genuine stock still needs its own images and copy for every detail page it creates.

The license you grant when you add images

Amazon’s copyright page includes a detail that explains a lot of confusing cases. When you add your copyrighted image or video to a product detail page, you grant Amazon and its affiliates a license to use it, and other sellers can list their items on pages where you added your images, even after you stop selling the product. A seller who joins an existing listing is using content already licensed to Amazon for that page. Complaints usually arise when someone copies an image onto a different detail page, a new listing or an off-Amazon site.

How the complaint reaches you

Rights owners file through Amazon’s Report Infringement form or Brand Registry. Amazon’s form lets a rights owner report a specific image, a specific offer or an entire ASIN, and the content selected must fit the infringement type. A copyright owner can report even if the work is not registered, by linking to an example or describing it. To report copyright infringement on an offer, as opposed to an image, Amazon requires a test buy confirming the product or packaging uses the copyrighted work. The warning names the ASIN and the rights owner, and Amazon’s UK Intellectual Property Policy page adds that the rights owner’s contact information appears in the warning you received.

The DMCA and what it covers

Amazon describes the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as a United States law governing online copyrighted materials, and states that it applies to copyrights only. Its notice and takedown rules sit in 17 U.S.C. 512(c), which requires a signed written notice that identifies the work and the infringing material and includes a statement of accuracy made under penalty of perjury. Trademarks and patents fall outside it. That distinction matters later. The DMCA counter notice route exists for copyright complaints and has no equivalent for a trademark complaint about the same listing.

See also Amazon Trademark Appeal Denied and No Retraction and Amazon Trademark Complaint Warning.

Images, Text and Designs That Trigger Complaints

The complaints we see fall into three content types, and each comes from a recognizable way of running the business.

Images and video

The most common trigger is a product photo copied from the manufacturer’s website, a brand’s own listing, another seller’s listing or a supplier catalog. Lifestyle images and infographics built on someone else’s photo carry the same problem. Video follows the same rule.

Text

Product descriptions, bullet points and A+ style copy lifted from a brand site or another listing can be protected as written works. Sellers who paste the manufacturer’s description into a new listing often assume it is free to use because the product is the same. The description is the manufacturer’s writing.

Design

Artwork printed on the product itself, such as graphics on apparel, mugs, posters or phone cases, can infringe when it copies or closely resembles a protected design. Amazon’s UK policy adds that in some countries, including France, Germany, Belgium and Italy, industrial designs can also receive copyright protection, so a product’s look may be protected by copyright and design rights at the same time.

The business models behind most complaints

Resellers who copy manufacturer images and descriptions. The product is genuine and the content still belongs to someone else. To operate compliantly, shoot your own product photos and write your own copy, or get written permission or a license before using manufacturer content.
Print-on-demand and design-led sellers. Artwork that resembles protected designs, characters or illustrations draws complaints quickly. To operate compliantly, use original artwork or licensed art, keep the source files with their creation dates, and screen customer-supplied designs before printing.
Sellers who hire freelancers for content. A freelancer who reuses someone else’s photo or text passes the problem to you. To operate compliantly, require original work in the contract and obtain a written assignment of rights. Section 201(a) of the Copyright Act vests copyright in the author first, which means a contractor who shot your photos owns them until a signed written transfer says otherwise, and section 204(a) refuses to recognize a transfer without that signed instrument. Work by your own employees within the scope of their job is treated as work made for hire under section 201(b), so the employer counts as the author.

Content you can use with confidence

The safe categories are short. Photos and video you or your staff created of the product you sell. Copy you wrote from the product’s real specifications. Work a freelancer or agency created for you under a signed assignment of rights. Stock images under a license that permits commercial product use. Content the rights owner has licensed to you in writing for use on Amazon. Anything outside those categories needs a second look before it goes live, and that includes images a supplier emails you, since a supplier often has no more right to the brand’s photos than you do.

Joining an existing listing is a separate case. Amazon’s copyright page explains that images added to a detail page are licensed to Amazon and that other sellers can list on that page. The risk begins when you take those images somewhere else.

The left column is content that triggers copyright complaints. The right column is the version you can use with confidence. Compare each content type.

If a brand has already filed against one of your ASINs and the listing drives real revenue, our rights owner complaint team can audit the image history before you answer the warning.

How a Copyright Complaint Affects Account Health

A copyright complaint removes the listing or the content at issue and records a violation of the Amazon Intellectual Property Policy, which is one of the policies included in the Account Health Rating. The Account Health Rating program policy puts that rating on a color coded 0 to 1,000 scale built from your policy record across a rolling 180 day window. Green covers 200 through 1,000 and means the policies in the score put you at no risk of deactivation. Yellow covers 100 through 199 and signals real risk. Red, at 99 or below, means the account can be deactivated or already has been. One copyright complaint on a clean account rarely moves a seller out of green, and two or three in the same window can.

Violations carry one of four severity levels, critical, high, medium or low. The points attached to a violation increase each time the same policy is violated. An account can be at immediate risk of deactivation if it reaches the maximum number of repeat violations for a single policy in 180 days. For higher severity violations of the Intellectual Property policy, the program policy says that ceiling can be just two violations. Amazon’s Intellectual Property Policy adds that it terminates the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances, and that it takes action even when a seller infringed without knowing.

A first complaint compared with repeated complaints

A first copyright complaint on one ASIN is usually a listing level problem. You replace the content, deal with the complaint and put a control in place. Repeated complaints tell Amazon the content habit behind them has not changed, and that is when the account is at risk. Sellers with several copyright complaints should read our guide on repeated copyright complaints and deactivation. If you have just received your first warning, our guide on fixing a copyright complaint on images before it repeats walks through the first week.

Check every listing that shares the source

A copyright complaint is rarely a one listing problem. If a manufacturer’s photo was copied onto one ASIN, the same habit usually produced others. As soon as the first complaint arrives, list every ASIN that uses content from the same source, the same freelancer or the same supplier catalog, and replace what you cannot document. Rights owners who file once tend to search for other uses of the same work, and the next complaint is easier to prevent than to appeal.

Where to respond

Amazon’s policy pages state that to address an intellectual property violation, you go to the Account Health page and select Submit appeal next to the violation to provide the requested documentation or information. Each violation has its own appeal experience on that page, so read the instructions shown for yours before you send anything.

Getting a Retraction or Showing a License

There are three ways a copyright complaint is resolved. The rights owner retracts it, you show that you own or are licensed to use the content, or, for a takedown that was a mistake or misidentification, you file a DMCA counter notice. Replacing the content is the starting point in almost every case, because it removes the problem going forward. It does not by itself clear the complaint already on your record. That still needs a retraction or a successful appeal.

Retraction

Amazon’s policy tells sellers who have a license or other agreement with the rights owner to contact that owner and request a retraction, and states your content may be reinstated if Amazon receives one. The rights owner withdraws a copyright report through the Notice Retraction Form described on Amazon’s Report Infringement help page, and that page limits retractions to reports filed in the last 365 days, so a brand that waits more than a year can no longer pull the complaint. Keep the request short, with the complaint ID, the ASIN, the content you have removed or the license you hold, and a request to retract the named complaint. If you hold a license, attach it.

Proof of ownership or license

Our method rests on one position. Either you own or are licensed to use the exact content, or the content has been replaced. The root cause in your appeal names the image or text at issue and where it came from. Evidence that carries these cases.

Original files. Camera originals or raw files with their metadata and dates, the shoot folder, and the edited versions that went live.
Creation records. Photographer invoices, shoot schedules, design source files with dates, and drafts of written copy.
Licenses. A written license from the rights owner that covers the content, the use on Amazon and the territory. Amazon’s letter of authorization page names the terms it expects in a license, licensor, licensee, grant, geographic scope and term.
Rights assignments. A signed assignment from a freelancer or agency that created the content.

How we structure the appeal

When the complaint needs an appeal, we write it in the order the reviewer reads it.

The decision and your position. Name the complaint, the ASIN and the Amazon Intellectual Property Policy. State in one sentence that you own or are licensed to use the content, or that the content has been replaced.
Root cause. Name the specific image or text and where it came from. For example, a secondary image supplied by a distributor that turned out to be the brand’s photograph. Vague causes such as a misunderstanding of the policy are rejected.
Corrective actions already taken. The content removed, the replacement created, the other listings reviewed and the retraction requested, with numbers and dates.
Preventive measures. The content rights log, the approval step before any listing goes live, and the freelancer assignment requirement.
Evidence. Original files with dates, the license or assignment, and the replacement content. List only what you attach.
The request. One clear ask to clear the complaint and reinstate the listing.

Do not blame the rights owner or the freelancer, and do not argue that other sellers use the same photo. An appeal that points at a supplier or a contractor tells the copyright reviewer that nobody inside your business owns the content approval step.

The DMCA counter notice, and why it needs legal review

Amazon’s policy states you may file a counter notice under the DMCA for a copyright complaint, sent to the email address provided in your copyright warning. It must include your signature, identification of the removed material and where it appeared, a statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief it was removed by mistake or misidentification, and your name, address and phone number with consent to the jurisdiction of a federal district court. Under 17 U.S.C. 512(g), the content can be restored 10 to 14 business days after the counter notice unless the complainant tells the platform it has filed a court action. We file one only after legal review. Consenting to jurisdiction invites a lawsuit if the rights owner believes its claim is good, and 17 U.S.C. 512(f) makes a person who knowingly and materially misrepresents that material was removed by mistake liable for damages. The stakes in court are concrete. Under 17 U.S.C. 504(c), a copyright owner can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work, a court can raise that to $150,000 per work for willful infringement, and it can lower it to $200 for an infringer who had no reason to believe the use was infringing. Our guide to the copyright counter notice route covers the drafting.

The law by region

Region	Law	What it means for your listing
United States	DMCA notice and takedown and counter notice, 17 U.S.C. 512	Platforms remove content on notice. A counter notice can restore mistakenly removed content unless the rights owner files suit, and misrepresentations on either side carry liability.
United States	Copyright Act, fair use, 17 U.S.C. 107	Courts weigh four factors, including the commercial character of the use and its effect on the market for the work. Copying a competitor’s product photo to sell the same product rarely fits.
European Union	Each member state’s copyright law, and the Digital Services Act, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, applying from 17 February 2024	Article 17 requires a clear and specific statement of reasons for a removal. Article 20 gives you at least six months from that decision to use internal complaint handling, and Article 21 opens certified out-of-court dispute settlement.
United Kingdom	UK copyright law, and the retained Platform to Business Regulation 2019/1150, Article 4	A restriction needs a written justification on a durable medium, a full termination needs 30 days of notice, and you get a chance to clarify the facts. The 30 day notice does not apply where the seller has repeatedly breached the terms.

Article 23 of the Digital Services Act also requires platforms to suspend users who frequently provide manifestly illegal content, after a prior warning, which is the EU parallel to Amazon’s repeat infringer rule. The DMCA counter notice is a United States procedure. On EU and UK stores, the regional complaint channels above are the procedural routes, alongside Amazon’s own appeal. Treat the table as orientation on which rules apply where, and take the decision on your own listing to a licensed attorney.

Step through the copyright appeal we write, from the one-sentence position to the request, with the ownership evidence each part points to.

What Never to Do With Listing Content

Do not copy images from the manufacturer, the brand or another seller. Amazon’s copyright page is direct about this. Photos found on someone else’s website are not yours to upload without permission.
Do not lightly edit someone else’s photo and treat it as yours. Cropping, adding a background or placing a logo on a copied image does not create ownership of the original.
Do not paste a brand’s description into a new listing. Write your own copy from the product’s real specifications.
Do not file a counter notice to buy time. It is a sworn statement with legal consequences, and it should reflect a genuine belief that the takedown was a mistake.
Do not create a new ASIN with the same content. Relisting the removed images on a fresh listing repeats the violation and adds to the pattern.
Do not rely on fair use for commercial product photos without advice. Fair use is a defense weighed case by case, and using a competitor’s photo to sell a competing product sits poorly against the four factors.
Do not ignore the complaint because the product is genuine. Authenticity answers a trademark or counterfeit concern. It does not answer who owns a photograph.

Brands often file copyright and trademark complaints together. If a trademark complaint arrived with your copyright complaint, read our guide on trademark complaints and retractions. If the complaint questions whether the goods themselves are genuine, see our guides to the inauthentic item complaint appeal and counterfeit complaints after a test buy.

Content Rights Log

The prevention lesson is simple. Use only images and copy you created or hold written licenses for, and keep those licenses on file. A content rights log turns that rule into a habit your whole team follows, and it gives you the evidence for an appeal before you ever need one.

How we set up the log

Keep one row per content asset per listing, covering every main image, secondary image, video, infographic, description and A+ module. Record where each asset came from and what proves you may use it. Assign one person to approve each row before a listing goes live. Review the log whenever a supplier sends new content, because supplier content updates are a common source of copied images.

Content rights log template fields

ASIN and marketplace.
Asset type, such as main image, secondary image, video, infographic, title, bullets, description or A+ module.
File name and storage location of the original.
Creator, whether in-house staff, named freelancer, agency or rights owner.
Creation date and the evidence of it, such as file metadata or a shoot record.
Rights basis, whether created in-house, assigned in writing, or licensed.
License or assignment document location, with its territory and term.
Third party elements in the asset, such as logos, artwork or stock images, and their licenses.
Approver name and approval date.
Next review date.

Rules that keep the log useful

No asset goes live without a completed row.
Freelancer contracts require original work and a signed assignment of rights before final payment.
Stock images are logged with their license terms, because some licenses restrict commercial or product use.
Original files are stored where they cannot be overwritten, with their metadata intact.
Any complaint triggers a review of every listing that uses content from the same source.

Sellers who keep this log answer a copyright complaint in an afternoon. Sellers who do not often spend days reconstructing where an image came from while the listing sits inactive.

Frequently Asked Questions

What triggers an Amazon copyright complaint?

Using a rights owner’s images, text or design without permission triggers it. The most common case is a product photo copied from a manufacturer site or another listing. Amazon’s copyright page states you generally do not own photos found on someone else’s website.

What happens after a copyright complaint?

The listing or content is removed and the violation counts against your Account Health Rating. The complaint appears on your Account Health page, where you can respond by selecting Submit appeal next to the violation.

Can I be deactivated for copyright complaints?

Yes, repeated complaints can lead to deactivation. Amazon states it terminates the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances, and repeat violations of the same policy increase the points deducted from your rating.

Does replacing the image fix the complaint?

Replacing the image removes the issue going forward, but the complaint stays unless it is retracted or resolved on appeal. Ask the rights owner for a retraction or show that you own or license the content.

What proof shows I can use an image?

A written license or proof you created the content. Original camera files with dates, shoot records, design source files and signed rights assignments from freelancers are the evidence that carries these cases.

Get Help With an Amazon Copyright Complaint

Most copyright complaints are resolved by replacing content and documenting rights. Where we help most is the case where the listing is critical and you believe the claim is wrong. The decision to file a counter notice needs counsel and careful drafting, and we coordinate that alongside the appeal and the retraction request.

Hand it to our Amazon suspension and reinstatement service and our rights owner complaint service, submit your case for a free assessment, or book a consultation.

Copyright work often sits beside other marketplace problems, and the full set of marketplace suspension services covers the other channels where the same images may be live.

How to Resolve an Amazon Copyright Complaint on Listing Images