A private show is meant for the people who paid to be there. Anyone watching can still record their screen, though, and some of those recordings get posted. If you think that's happened, you can check for yourself at no cost, save what you see, and send a takedown notice. Here's how, one calm step at a time.
Signs a show may have been recorded
None of these prove anything on their own. They're reasons to take a closer look.
- Someone in your audience tells you. A regular says they saw a clip of your show on another site. Ask for the link, not the file.
- A clip has details only that show had. Your outfit that night, a game you ran, something you said. If you remember the date, that's a strong match.
- Your overlay or stage name is in the frame. A tip menu, a goal bar or your username in a corner suggests someone captured a live session.
- The edges look wrong. Cropping, black bars or a blurred corner can mean someone tried to hide the platform's watermark, or their own username.
- A new account posts stills from the same night. Look closer if its name is one letter off yours.
A recording of your show is still your work
The U.S. Copyright Office says "Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form." So is a live show fixed if it's only streamed? The Copyright Act speaks to that. A work made of sounds or images "that are being transmitted, is 'fixed' for purposes of this title if a fixation of the work is being made simultaneously with its transmission." So recording your own show while it streams matters, and it's worth keeping a copy of every one. A lawyer can tell you how this applies to your setup.
Ownership matters too. The Copyright Office puts it simply: "if you pushed the button to take the photo or record the video, you may send a takedown notice under the DMCA." If you set up the camera and ran the show, that points to you. If a studio or someone else filmed it, they may own it, and our guide on how to send a DMCA takedown notice explains the exceptions.
Sensible places to look
A reverse image tool
These tools work on pictures, not video, so use a clear still frame from your own recording.
- Google Lens. On a computer, go to google.com, open Lens, and upload a file, drag an image in, or paste an image link. Google says your results can include "Websites with the image or a similar image."
- TinEye. TinEye says it "uses image recognition technology rather than keywords, metadata or watermarks," and it "is free for non-commercial use."
Try more than one. Their results differ, so a second tool can turn up pages the first missed.
The platforms' own report pages
If a clip is on a big platform, that platform runs its own copyright route. Our where to report list links to each one's copyright page, with the day we checked it. For Reddit, Telegram and X, our platform by platform guides walk through each route in the platform's own words. The site where you held the show may have its own copyright page too, so look in its help center.
Google's copyright removal form
If a copy shows up in Google's results, you can ask Google to drop it. Google asks you to "include the specific URL(s) of the content you want to report, as opposed to the link to the website's home page." Dropping a link isn't deleting the copy, though. Google says content it restricts "may still exist elsewhere on the web." Our guide to removing copies from Google's results goes through the form.
Google also has a separate request for intimate images that isn't based on copyright. Google says "As long as you're the subject of the content, you or your representative can start a request." For content you agreed to, though, it applies only if "the content isn't commercialized online or somewhere else." If your show was paid, read that condition closely. Our guide covers when copyright isn't the right tool.
What to save as proof
Write things down before you report anything. A notice has to point to the exact copy, and the Copyright Office says that "may mean providing specific URLs or listing specific pages on which the infringing material can be found."
For each copy, keep:
- The full URL. Click through to the page and copy the address from your browser's address bar. Google notes that image share links start with https://share.google/, and a share link isn't the page itself.
- The date. Note when you saw it, and which show it came from if you know.
- A screenshot. Get the address bar and your screen's clock into the shot.
- Your original. Some platforms ask for proof the work is yours, so keep your own recording.
Keep it private. Don't download the posted file or repost it to make a point, since that's one more copy out there. When you file with Google, it says "you will receive an email confirmation and a reference number," so save that next to your list.
What to do next: send a DMCA notice
Once you have the links, the standard U.S. step is a DMCA takedown notice sent to the site's designated agent. You can write it yourself. Our guide on how to send a DMCA takedown notice covers the six parts it needs, and what to do when your content is leaked lays out the whole process in order.
Before you send, make sure it isn't a use you licensed and isn't likely fair use. Google's DMCA page warns that "you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys' fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights."
What nobody can promise
Nobody can promise a copy comes down. Each site decides for itself what to do with a notice, and so does Google. The poster can send a counter-notice. If the same clip goes up again somewhere new, that's a new copy, and it needs its own notice. Pages behind a login or in private groups often won't show up in any tool.
Make your notice for free
If you'd rather hand the paperwork off, the LeakVoid plan is $17.99 a month, plus any sales tax that applies where you live. US only.
Latest-month refund guarantee. See terms
Want to start tonight on your own? Use our Free DMCA notice generator (you send it yourself). You fill in your details, get a notice to copy or download, and send it to the site yourself.
Sources
All checked Fri 2026-10-30.
- 1. U.S. Copyright Office, Frequently Asked Questions, "Copyright in General": https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
- 2. 17 U.S.C. 101, definition of "fixed", United States Code, 2024 Edition, U.S. Government Publishing Office: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title17/html/USCODE-2024-title17-chap1-sec101.htm
- 3. U.S. Copyright Office, "Section 512 of Title 17: Resources on Online Service Provider Safe Harbors and Notice-and-Takedown System": https://www.copyright.gov/512/
- 4. Google Help, using Google Lens with an image on a computer: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808
- 5. TinEye Help, "What is TinEye?": https://help.tineye.com/article/231-what-is-tineye
- 6. TinEye Help, "Is TinEye free to use?": https://help.tineye.com/article/239-is-tineye-free-to-use
- 7. Google Legal Help, "Report Content for Legal Reasons": https://support.google.com/legal/answer/3110420
- 8. Google Legal Help, "Digital Millennium Copyright Act": https://support.google.com/legal/answer/1120734
- 9. Google Help, getting the URL of a page or image: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/118238
- 10. Google Help, Google's policy on removing intimate images shared without consent: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16305143
How this page is made
This guide's facts were checked against the sources listed above as of the "Last reviewed" date at the top of the page, and those sources may have changed since. This is a check against sources, not a legal review. It has no person byline. Our editorial policy explains how guides are made, sourced, checked and corrected. If you spot a mistake, write to hello@leakvoid.com.