How to Store a Copyrighted Picture

Prints

• 1

  Print or have your picture printed. Place a copyright stamp on the back of the print, date and sign inside the copyright stamp. A copyright stamp can be obtained through most office or art supply retailers.

• 2

  Place the copyrighted picture in a thin sturdy storage box designed to hold the size of picture you have printed. Place a sheet of parchment paper between each picture you place inside this box. Use one box for each year of work you produce. If you are producing work for a singular project that will generate a number of copyrighted pictures, use a separate box for that project.

• 3

  Attach a sheet on the top of the box that lists the images contained inside. The pictures should have a filing number on them and the sheet on the outside of the box should contain a brief description of the work contained inside.

Digital

• 4

  Create a folder inside your picture folder on your computer's hard drive and label it "Copyrighted," even though all of your photos are copyrighted from the moment they are produced. Keeping a folder of the images you edit and upload to online websites will help you quickly access pictures that may be misused.

• 5

  Tag your photos using a photo editing software with the word "Copyrighted" and add your name to the picture. By tagging your pictures this way you can quickly locate the copyrighted images on your computer.

• 6

  Back-up your folder of copyrighted images on a regular basis on DVDs or an external hard drive. If backing up to a DVD, remove the DVD once the pictures have been backed up to the DVD, use fine tip marker to write the date of the back-up on the DVD.