Hey First name / friend!

 

After I sent the email about the first time my art got stolen, I got a few follow up questions, but one came up over and over again:

 

 

So today I want to answer that and delve a little deeper into what it looks like to copyright your work.

 

(And btw, keep the questions and responses coming! I'm treating this series like an ongoing conversation. This is exactly how we do things in The Art of Collections. Student questions help me shape what we talk about in the community and even new content that gets added to the program! Enrollment is opening in two short months! 🤗)

 

And real quick before we dive into the copyright stuff – obligatory disclaimer that I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Just sharing my experience! Always talk to a lawyer if you have questions about your specific situation.

 

 

A lot of artists don’t realize this, but the SECOND you create a design in any physical or digital form, you automatically own the copyright.

 

This is called unregistered (or automatic) copyright, and for most artists, most of the time, it’s enough to show ownership and protect you if someone is using your work without your permission.

 

Pro tip: It’s important to have proof of when you created it. That proof can come from anything that shows a clear time stamp, like posting your art on social media, emailing it to someone, adding it to your Etsy or POD shops, or even just saving the digital file on your computer. (These records don’t create the copyright, they simply help establish when the work existed and that it was yours.)

 

If you have an unregistered copyright and you take legal action against an infringer, you can pursue actual damages, which is the exact amount of money they profited off your artwork. 

 

One thing I didn't mention in my email about my art being stolen (read it here!) was that the piece in question was not formally copyrighted.

 

However, because I could prove that I created it first (by showing the date I uploaded it to Society6), I was still able to take legal action against the company who stole it. They were required to pay me the full profits from that design, which came to about $30,000. (Half of that went to my legal fees.)

 

 

Formal copyright means registering your artwork with the U.S. Copyright Office. (Right now, registering a single design costs between $45 and $65, depending on which application you qualify for.)

 

This doesn't give you more ownership since you already own the work the moment you create it.

 

…BUT it does give you more legal leverage.

 

With formal copyright, you’re eligible for statutory damages (up to $150,000 per work) and the possibility of recovering attorney’s fees. This means a company can be financially penalized for using your work without permission, even if you cannot prove how much profit they made from it.

 

So, is formal copyright valuable? Yes.

 

But is it required for every single thing you make? Nope!

 

I have thousands of designs in my portfolio, but I've only formally copyrighted a small percentage of those. 

 

I only bother with formal copyright when pieces are:

For everything else, automatic copyright is enough. 

 

Formal copyright is time-consuming, expensive, and in my opinion it’s not practical to register every single thing you make, especially when you are just starting out.

 

If you're brand new, don't stress too much about formal copyright. I've actually seen this hold a lot of artists back, so it's more likely to hurt your progress than protect you at the beginning. Plus, I think it's smart to stay scrappy when starting your business so you can save as much money as possible. Your automatic copyright already protects your ownership of the work, and for most artists, that’s enough. You can always register key pieces later once you know which designs are getting traction.

 

Once you've got a little more traction, use this simple rule of thumb:

 

✨ If a design starts performing really well (sales, licensing deals, virality, etc.) consider formally registering it.

 

✨ If it’s a newer piece or part of your ongoing creative exploration, unregistered copyright is totally fine.

 

You don’t need to spend thousands registering every single illustration “just in case.”

Focus your energy on what’s actually making you money.

 

Inside The Art of Collections, we're able to go deeper and work through student's real copyright battles together. We recently had a student who found out her art was stolen, but with the help of the community, she turned it into a licensing deal with huge earning potential! 

 

The beauty of community is that you never have to figure any of this out alone!

 

xo,

 

Cat

 

PS: I know many of you reading this aren’t in the USA. Good news, your copyright exists automatically no matter where you live, and it’s recognized internationally. Anyone in the world can register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office if they need to take action there.

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