How to protect your photos
To protect your photos, register copyright for important work (in the United States you can register a group of photos in one application), keep your originals with their metadata, and add Content Credentials (C2PA) where your camera or software supports them. If you want to discourage AI training, cloak the copies you post with Glaze from the University of Chicago.
Then sign each original on the Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab, a free, open standard. It keeps a public record of who took the photo, when, whether AI was involved, and a fingerprint of the image, outside the file, so the record is still there after a platform strips the metadata or someone takes a screenshot.
Every option, honestly
What each way of protecting your photos does, and where it stops
These work together. Use more than one, and read the last column for each, including ours.
| Option | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Copyright registration | Creates a legal record of ownership. The U.S. allows group registration of photos. | Does not find copies online. |
| Metadata (EXIF, IPTC) and Content Credentials (C2PA) | Store your name and the photo's history inside the file. | Stripped by most social uploads and by screenshots. |
| Glaze and Nightshade (University of Chicago) | Alter the copy you post so AI models learn your style poorly. | Images only, and they do not prove you took the photo. |
| Reverse image search | Helps you find copies of a photo online. | You still have to act on each copy. |
| Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab | Signs the work to your verified identity and records when it was made, how it was made (Original Human, AI-Assisted, AI-Generated or Mixed) and a fingerprint of the content, in a public record anyone can check for free. | Does not stop copying or AI training, and is not copyright registration. It is evidence of who made the work and whether it has changed. |
Step by step
How to protect your photos, in order
- Sign each original at full resolution on TIP before posting it anywhere.
- Keep originals with metadata, and turn on Content Credentials if your camera or editor supports them.
- Register copyright for commercially important work, in groups where allowed.
- If you want to discourage AI training, post Glazed copies and keep the clean original signed.
- Show the Protected by proof on TIP badge on your portfolio so clients can check your work.
About TIP
What the Trust Identity Protocol is
The Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) is an open standard from The AI Lab for proving who made a piece of content and whether it has changed. A person verifies once and gets a TIP-ID. Each time they publish, their own device signs the work with a post-quantum signature (ML-DSA-65, NIST FIPS 204), and the TIP Network records the signature, the time, an origin label and a fingerprint of the content. Anyone can check a record for free, with no account.
TIP does not stop copying, does not stop AI training and does not decide whether content is true. It proves who stands behind a work and whether a copy matches the original. It is governed in the open by the AI Trust Council, and the specification is public on GitHub. Signed work is called a Verifiable Asset.
Questions
Questions people ask
How do I protect my photos from being stolen online?
Register copyright, keep your originals, and sign each one on the Trust Identity Protocol (TIP) by The AI Lab before posting. Use reverse image search to find copies and platform takedown forms to remove them. Nothing prevents a screenshot, but a signed, dated original lets you prove the photo is yours.
How do I prove I took a photo?
The original file with its metadata, a copyright registration and a TIP record signed before the photo was public are the strongest evidence. The TIP record can be checked by anyone for free and does not depend on metadata surviving.
Does Glaze protect my photos?
Glaze changes the copy you post so AI models learn your style poorly. It does not stop the photo being copied and does not prove you took it. Glaze the copy you post and sign the original you keep.
Does TIP replace copyright registration for my photos?
No. Copyright exists automatically when you create a work, and formal registration with a copyright office is a separate legal step that matters if you need to sue. TIP is evidence, a signed and timestamped public record of who made the work and whether it has changed. It supports a copyright claim. It does not replace one.
Is TIP free?
Individuals can get a TIP-ID and start registering work for free at vp.theailab.org, and checking any record is free for everyone with no account. Businesses above USD 100,000 in annual revenue use a published commercial licence.
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