Breaking in today, between the 2016 Annual Report week stuff, for a quick tip on the one Lightroom setting that you need to change for 2017. And the best part is, it doesn’t matter what version of Lightroom that you have. It’s not a glamorous feature, it’s not a fancy feature… but it’s something that’s quick and easy to do, and you can have it done for the entire year in about 2 minutes.
PS: If you have your camera set up to add copyright information to your photos as you take them, don’t forget to change the setting there too! (Thanks Ron!)
So what’s the setting? It’s your copyright date. If you’ve used Lightroom for a while you may have it set to 2016. So all of your copyright info is going to say 2016 on it until you change it. In the short 2-minute video below, you’ll see that it’s really simple to change it.
Also, even if you’re not a pro, or selling your work, you should still add the copyright info. Photos are being published all over the internet these days (social media, etc…) And by adding the copyright to your metadata, you’re at least putting people who may download the photo on notice. I don’t want to get in to a whole copyright discussion because there’s about 100 what if’s about this all. Bottom line… it won’t hurt you to add/change this setting. Like I said, it’s quick to do, so take 2 minutes now and change it.
Thanks! 🙂
Matt, just luv your stuff
Excellent Tip !! Happy 2017
Hi, Matt. Thanks for all the quick tips! I’m sure you’ve covered this somewhere, but I remembered my question in this thread – so here goes.
Do you ever put your signature on your images? If so, where do you do it in your workflow – and – how?
Thanks,
Steve
Do you enter anything for the Rights Usage Terms?
Never knew how to do the identity plate and the copywrite.! lessons learned, and a big Thank You!
The Copyright will work in Windows 10 if you hold down the ALT and type the 0169 on the Numeric Keypad.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for the reminder.
Matt, Tried your suggestion for the copyright symbol on my Windows 7 machine. Started to type holding the alt key and on 01, My Documents folder opened up. I did some research and as usual Microsoft makes things difficult. The instructions I found indicated Click Start and type in charmap in the program selection and the Character Map opens up, then select the copyright symbol from the table of special characters, click the copy button and then paste (Ctl V) it into the Copyright section in Metadata. My next computer will be a Mac.
Good reminder Matt!
Why do you suggest including the year in your copyright notice??
Way back in the good old days before digital when we submitted transparencies to agents I was advised not to put the date (year) in my copy-write as this would tend to date the subject and possibly make it less saleable. I’m wondering if that’s still good advice. Also, some people add copy write information “in camera”; don’t forget to change the date there as well, if you do that.
Totally forgot about the camera option. Thanks Ron.
I can’t seem to get the copyright symbol to work. When I try to use the Alt+0169, Lightroom won’t let me use it. So, I have (C) 2017 instead… What did I do wrong? BTW, I am using Windows 10 and LR CC 2015.8
you must use the numeric keypad to enter the numbers while holding ALT 🙂
Is the year necessary?
How do you put the copyright on when you just use On1
It’s in the IPTC Metadata section in the Metadata Panel (in the Browse app).
Thanks for the reminder
Matt, you re truly a special person, that this is a business for you, you also take personal interest in all of us, and from this older guy, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
PPA (Professional Photographers of America) has a very large section on copyright issues (see https://www.ppa.com/copyright ). There is a large body of work that is free to the public without requiring membership.
Hum, I just realized I have taken and imported three photo sessions with the 2016 copywrite date. Will ai be able to change metadata to 2017?
Yep, you can select all and change them in the Metadata panel in the Library Module.
Not on my radar either. Thank you as well.
Wasn’t even on my radar. Thanks for the reminder.
Can you point me in the right direction for more information on how to obtain the copyright license? Thanks.
http://petapixel.com/2015/08/05/how-to-officially-register-your-photographs-with-the-us-copyright-office/
Thanks, Matt! I will check this out. I appreciate it!
Copyright.gov