I recently had a similar issue, provide the web hosting company with a DMCA notice... if you can locate the owners of the other infringing images, you can contact them and make them aware of the issue. Once the web host gets several DMCA notices about the infringing site (if it's located in the US) they will most probably take the site down... problem solved hopefully...

usually it only takes 1 DMCA to the webshost (with references to the original images, internet archive, etc) for them to see the issue and work out a solution...
hope that helps

Thank you for the hosting company tip!

My anger points to Google - both for preferring to show a scrappy site and for rejecting my DMCA request. Once I can get over it / cool down a bit, I'll try the hosting company route.

Terabytes is right, the DMCA should go to the host of the site and most US hosts will take it down within 24-48 hours. Once that happens you can request Google to remove that URL from the serps. Google is not an enforcement agency for US laws so unless there has been a DMCA filed with the host, Google doesn't care.

If the domain in question is hosted in another country, DMCA won't help there either. The DMCA is a US law, and different countries have their own versions of that type of law.

unless there has been a DMCA filed with the host, Google doesn't care.

That was not the case with my first complaint at this site back in Nov 2012 I posted in Google's DMCA window and the URL (actually 2) were approved. Without host company involved.

If the domain in question is hosted in another country, DMCA won't help there either.

The site operates and is hosted in my home country (EU) and DMCA is a US law, true. Still, in 2012 Google's DMCA decision had the effect that the infringing site removed my photo from their page (and happily left other photos on the page, which are also stolen...). I guess they were notified by Google of the claim against them.

I'm not sure why Google didn't approve the DMCA claim this time. It could be that they didn't see taking the 640x480 poster image (the first frame) of a 640x480 video as an infringement - or they just doesn't care.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Google has been made aware of a copyright infringement and they couldn't be bothered. With showing the infringing page at a premiere position they power the thief.

You might be hitting a brick wall. Most countries (and I mean most) have a "okay to use for scholarly or news report" section that allows a representation of the work being reviewed.

One frame of a video is not copyright infringement. The cover of a book is not copyright infringement. A few paragraphs of a work is not copyright infringement.

That said, you do have the right to control your work(s), just be aware that the battlefield is not always level and you just might not be always right.

Google used to be more involved in DMCA issues. But the last I read was in 2014 when they had like 13 million DMCAs a month and could not possibly maintain the level of service that had accumulated a backlog. The old "submit a DMCA" form they used to have up is not the same as it used to be and they are asking people to take the first step themselves. (Maybe because that is usually all that it takes to fix it.)

As not2easy says, Google receives so many DMCA takedowns that it is difficult to predict what will happen. Better approach is always to go after the host because you should get a quick response.