AI watermark removal: a growing concern for volume photographers

AI tools are making it easier to remove watermarks from photographs. Understandably, this is raising questions across the volume photography industry. The topic has come up in conversations at SPAC, in social media groups and across industry forums, with photographers asking what it could mean for image sales and the protection of their work.

For photographers working in schools, early learning, sports and dance, it’s something worth paying attention to. Watermarks have traditionally helped protect preview images, but AI tools are making it much easier to turn a watermarked preview into something that looks like a finished photograph.

There’s also another side to the issue that parents may not have considered: what happens to their child’s photograph when they upload it to an AI service?

More than a missed sale

When a parent purchases a photograph, they’re paying for much more than the finished image. Behind it are the equipment, staff, photography, editing, secure galleries, administration and customer support that go into delivering photo day.

Many volume photography businesses also provide photography without charging the school or club upfront, relying on parent purchases to cover the cost. And some also contribute to fundraising or provide complimentary products.

A watermark helps make it clear that an image is a preview and protects the photographer’s work until it’s purchased. Removing it doesn’t change who owns the copyright or give someone permission to use the photograph.

What Netlife is doing

Netlife has introduced an image-use notification that appears when customers right-click a photograph on desktop or long-press it on mobile. It reminds customers about appropriate image use at the point where they may be trying to copy a preview.

This approach aims to protect photographers’ work while keeping photographs easy to view and purchase. Blocking previews or adding overly intrusive watermarks could make it harder for parents to assess images and may discourage legitimate sales.

In addition, webshop previews are low-resolution files, typically around 50–60KB, and are designed for viewing and selecting images rather than printing. Removing a watermark or using AI to enlarge a preview won’t bring back the detail in the original photograph, so it won’t be the same as the purchased image.

These measures won’t stop every instance of copying, but they can help protect the original image and make it clear that the preview is just that – a preview.

So, how concerned should you be?

Image copying isn’t new. Photographers have been dealing with scanned prints, screenshots and retained proofs for years. AI has simply made another form of image manipulation more accessible.

At this stage, we don’t have evidence that watermark removal has become a widespread or systemic problem across Netlife portals. Netlife continues to monitor the situation while exploring additional technical safeguards as the technology develops.

For now, the best approach is to keep things proportionate. Use sensible image protections, make sure parents understand how previews are intended to be used, and keep communication around purchasing clear and straightforward.

If you come across suspected misuse, let us know at HVP Solutions. Sharing examples helps us and Netlife understand what’s happening and where further protections might be useful.

A privacy message worth sharing

There’s another reason parents should think twice about uploading a child’s photograph to an AI service.

When a photograph is uploaded, it’s being shared with another service. It may show a recognisable child, their school uniform or other details that could identify them. How the image is processed, stored or used depends on the service and its terms, which parents may not have considered before uploading it.

This is worth keeping in mind when talking to parents about image copying. The message doesn’t need to be complicated: their child’s photograph is not just another image file, and uploading it to an AI service means handing that image over to someone else.

A simple reminder to think about where children’s photographs are being uploaded can be just as important as reminding parents to respect the photographer’s work.