Remove Stolen Content from TikTok
Stolen clips and photos are sometimes reposted on TikTok, cut into short edits or slideshows. TikTok reviews copyright reports from the owner or someone authorized to act for them, and can remove the content.
TikTok's Intellectual Property Policy refers to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and similar laws for the requirements of a copyright notice, and TikTok takes reports through its online copyright report form or in the app. Our TikTok DMCA service uses that route for you: we find the videos, prepare complete reports and file them as your authorized agent.
TikTok takedowns are part of our social media and messenger removals, included on the Luxe and higher plans. Impersonation removal is included on the same plans.
How Stolen Content Shows Up on TikTok
TikTok is built around short videos. A stolen clip can be cut from a longer video, a set of photos can be turned into a slideshow, and the same material can be posted by several accounts. Reposted videos can spread quickly, so a fast report helps.
Creators commonly report clips cut from paid content and reposted as teasers, slideshows made from their profile photos, accounts that use their photos to pose as them, and videos whose captions or comments point viewers to other sites where more of their content is shared.
How TikTok Handles a Copyright Report
TikTok asks for all the information requested in its copyright report form. Its policy says that leaving out necessary information may limit its ability to investigate and may result in the report being denied, and its copyright help page asks reporters to respond promptly when TikTok follows up, to avoid delays. TikTok asks for supporting documentation that shows you are the owner or an authorized representative.
TikTok also notes that not every unauthorized use is infringement, for example under the fair use doctrine in the United States. Whether a short clip or a reaction video is fair use is a legal question, and TikTok decides on each report.
TikTok does not publish a response time. Our estimate is 24 to 72 hours for a complete report; it is an estimate, not a guarantee, and some cases take longer.
What a Valid TikTok DMCA Notice Must Include
A DMCA notice identifies your work and the link to each video, gives the sender's contact details, and includes a good faith statement, a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and the sender is authorized, and a signature (US Copyright Office). Each element is explained in how a DMCA notice works.
A platform keeps its safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. 512 by removing infringing material expeditiously after a valid notice. Knowingly false claims can lead to liability for damages under 512(f) of the same law, which is why a person on our takedown team checks every notice before it is sent.
Copyright, Impersonation and Deepfakes
A copyright report covers reposts and edits of your own photos and videos. Other misuse on TikTok has its own report:
- Reposted clips, slideshows of your photos and edits or compilations of your videos: a copyright report
- Promotional videos that use your photos or clips: a copyright report for your material
- An account pretending to be you: TikTok's impersonation report
- Intimate images shared without consent and sexually explicit deepfakes: TikTok's separate webform
TikTok handles impersonation through its own report, and its impersonation help page says the form for US accounts asks the person being impersonated to upload valid identification. We prepare the report and the links; for that US form you file it yourself, and we do not submit identity documents for you. For nonconsensual intimate images and sexually explicit deepfakes, TikTok asks people to use a separate webform. For paid content that you made and own, the copyright report is the route we use. Deepfakes are covered by our deepfake removal service on the Glamour and higher plans.
Filing as Your Agent, and What Happens to Your Name
We file every TikTok report as your authorized agent, signed on behalf of Adult Model Protection, and a person on our takedown team checks each notice before it is sent. Your legal name is only shared with your consent, and only with a recipient that needs it and keeps it confidential; you can withdraw that consent at any time from your account.
The rights holder named on the report is your model (stage) name, and TikTok may show it to the uploader: TikTok's policy says it may give the user information about your report, such as the name of the copyright owner.
The poster can appeal or file a counter-notice; TikTok's policy says an appeal is forwarded to the original reporter and that reinstatement is at its own discretion, and TikTok may restore the video after 10 to 14 business days unless it is told within that period that the copyright owner has filed a court action (US Copyright Office). Our takedown team tells you when a counter-notice arrives and explains your options; the decision is yours, and we do not give legal advice.
Filing Yourself or With AMP
You can file TikTok's copyright form yourself, for free.
What AMP adds is the work around the form: finding the videos in the first place, collecting the link to each one, filing under AMP's name instead of yours, checking each notice before it is sent, checking afterwards whether each video is gone, and handling the copies on other sites.
After the Report: Removal Checks and Reposts
After a report is sent, we check whether each video is gone, through page checks and manual checks, and you follow every request and its status in your dashboard. When a platform does not act, our takedown team sends a follow-up.
Removed content is sometimes posted again. Our regular scans, reverse image searches with your content assets and manual searches look for your content again, and a repost that turns up gets a new notice. You get a notification when a scan finds a new copy, and you can submit links yourself from your dashboard.
Video fingerprinting, which would also catch cropped or edited copies, is in development and not a current feature. Your content assets are used only to search for copies and are never shared with third parties.
When Copies Appear on Other Sites
Stolen content can be posted on several sites, and removing a TikTok video does not remove those copies. Our scans cover Google, Bing and Yandex and more than 500 known leak and piracy sites, and copies we find there get their own takedown notices, to the site, its host or, when a site ignores us, its registrar, hosting provider or payment processor.
Search engine de-indexing asks Google and Bing to drop infringing pages from their results; it is unlimited on every paid plan. For reposts on Instagram, see Instagram DMCA.
A visible watermark with your name or handle, placed where it is hard to crop, makes reposts easier to recognize, and telling your audience which accounts are yours helps them spot an impersonator. Neither stops a repost on its own.
If the content shows you under 18, or you are in danger
- Explicit images or videos of you taken before you were 18: use NCMEC's free Take It Down service and report to the CyberTipline. Adult Model Protection serves adults only.
- Explicit images of you as an adult shared without your consent: StopNCII.org is a free tool. If someone is threatening you, see sextortion and blackmail help.
- If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the US, or your local emergency number.
How It Works
Our team runs the scans, and every notice is checked by our takedown team before it is sent. Here is what happens from the moment you register to the moment we check that your content is gone.
Finding Your Content on TikTok
Our team runs scans, reverse image searches with your content assets and manual searches, and you can submit links you find yourself.
Collecting the Video Links
We list the link to every video that shows your content, and note which ones belong to an impersonation account.
Report Through TikTok's Form
A complete copyright report, checked by a person, is filed through TikTok's form under AMP's name as your agent. Impersonation goes through TikTok's own report.
Removal Check and Follow-up
We check whether each video is gone and follow up when it is not. You see the status of every request in your dashboard.
Copies Elsewhere and Reposts
Copies on other sites get their own notices, and later scans and manual searches look for reposts, which get a new notice.
Platforms We Cover
Platforms and sites this service covers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which plan do I need for TikTok takedowns?
TikTok takedowns are part of our social media and messenger removals, included on the Luxe and higher plans, together with impersonation removal. Search engine de-indexing of infringing pages is included on every paid plan. The Free plan includes a quarterly web scan but no takedowns.
Do you handle TikTok accounts that impersonate me?
Yes. The impersonation itself goes through TikTok's impersonation report, which we file as your authorized representative on the Luxe and higher plans. If the account also posts your photos or clips, those can be reported for copyright as well. TikTok decides on each report.
Can you remove TikTok videos that promote leak sites with my material?
Yes, when the video uses your photos or clips: we report it to TikTok as copyright infringement. The leak site itself gets its own notice when our scans find your content there.
Does removing content from TikTok also remove it from other sites?
No. Each site needs its own notice. Our scans look for the same content on search engines and more than 500 known leak and piracy sites, and copies we find get their own notices.
What if TikTok denies a report?
TikTok says a report can be denied when necessary information is missing, or when the use may be fair use. You see the status of every request in your dashboard.
Stop TikTok Content Theft
Adult Model Protection searches for your content on TikTok and files complete copyright reports for you. Start with the Free plan and its quarterly web scan to see what is already out there.