This week, ABC News Breakfast ran a story about BodyBlendz, an Australian self-tanning brand accused of posting AI-edited versions of competitors’ product imagery. The competitors, brands like Luna Bronze, had paid $30,000 to $50,000 for professional shoots. BodyBlendz allegedly ran those images through an AI tool, tweaked them enough to pass a glance test, and posted them as their own. The original posts were removed, but the businesses affected are stuck. Legal action costs more than they can recover.

That’s the situation. And it’s going to happen more.

AI image editing tools have made copying trivially easy. You don’t need to know Photoshop. You don’t need a designer. You need an app, ten minutes, and the absence of a conscience. The legal grey zone makes it worse. An AI-remixed image isn’t a direct copy, so the standard copyright arguments get complicated fast. Platforms will remove posts if you report them, but they’re not chasing anyone down.

So if you’ve invested real money in product photography, what can you actually do?

Step 1: Date your originals before anything else

Cloud uploads create timestamps. File metadata records when an image was shot and edited. The moment you get files back from your photographer, upload them to Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud (whatever you use) and leave them there. Don’t touch them. If you ever need to prove your images came first, those timestamps are your evidence.

This takes five minutes and costs nothing.

Step 2: Keep your raw files

Your photographer’s RAW files (the uncompressed originals from the camera) are the clearest proof of authorship. A JPEG anyone can copy. A camera RAW file with embedded lens data, serial number, and shooting conditions is much harder to fake. Ask your photographer to include RAW files in what they deliver, or at minimum confirm they’re keeping them and for how long.

If you commissioned the shoot, those files should be yours. Check your contract.

Step 3: Run reverse image searches

Google Images and TinEye let you upload a photo and find where else it appears online. Set a reminder to run your hero product shots through both tools every month or two. It takes ten minutes. If your image shows up somewhere you didn’t put it, you find out early , before it’s been up for six months and cached across a hundred sites.

Step 4: Know the platform reporting paths

Instagram, TikTok, and Shopify all have IP infringement report forms. They’re not perfect, but they work faster than lawyers. When you spot a copy, report it immediately through the platform before you do anything else. Platform removal is faster and cheaper than any legal process. Have the form links saved somewhere you can find them under stress.

Instagram: Settings → Help → Report a Problem → Intellectual Property
TikTok: Report button on the post → Intellectual property
Shopify: shopify.com/legal/rights

Step 5: Check your photographer contract

Who actually owns your product images? This matters more than most business owners realise. In Australia, copyright defaults to the creator. That means your photographer owns the images unless your contract explicitly transfers ownership to you. A usage licence isn’t the same as ownership. If you don’t have full ownership, your ability to pursue infringement claims is limited.

Pull out whatever contract or agreement you have. If it doesn’t address copyright ownership clearly, talk to your photographer about getting that fixed.

The AI “refresh” problem

The BodyBlendz case sits in murky legal territory because the images were allegedly put through an AI tool before posting. Courts and regulators are still catching up with what that means for copyright. But practically, an AI-modified copy of your image is still a copy of your image. The moral argument is clear even if the legal argument takes time to settle.

Document everything. Screenshot the infringing post before it’s removed. Note the URL, the date, the account name. Even if you can’t afford to litigate now, that evidence matters if you ever can , or if you’re contributing to a complaint alongside other affected businesses.

This is worth reading alongside two earlier posts on the legal side of AI and imagery:

The short version

You probably can’t stop someone from trying to copy your imagery. You can make it much easier to prove they did, report it fast, and build a paper trail that matters if the law catches up. Start with the timestamps. Keep the RAW files. Run the reverse searches. Five minutes of admin now is worth more than a legal bill later.

More hot takes: Hot Takes →

Sources

ABC News Breakfast, 5 November 2026, BodyBlendz accused of using AI to copy competitors’ product imagery
Google Reverse Image Search: images.google.com
TinEye Reverse Image Search: tineye.com
Shopify IP Report: shopify.com/legal/rights
IP Australia, Copyright basics: ipaustralia.gov.au

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Someone Just AI-Copied Your $40,000 Product Shoot. Here’s What You Do.