Ready For Your Close Up? Protect Your Intellectual Property

Last week, I shared some of the behind-the-scenes of building my business through speaking events, and this week, I’m keeping with the theme by talking more about branding! 

You’ve heard people say you are your brand, right? 

Your photos and headshots are a big part of your brand! 

I love a fun brand photoshoot and I’m sure you do too! 

You get a new outfit, find the perfect spot, and put your best foot forward. 

I share my brand photos with podcast and summit hosts every week. I use them on my social media and throughout my website. 

But, did you know you need to protect those photos?

You bet your cute coffee mug pose you do! 

Here’s a cautionary tale – I recently got a call from a business coach who had shared her headshot as part of a summit she was in, but later found out that the summit host had been using her headshot for all kinds of other promotions! 

Can you imagine? 

The summit host actually fabricated a testimonial and attached the business coach’s photo to it.

Outrageous!

I came in with my wonder woman cuffs and got her to take it down, thankfully! 

But, what if my client hadn’t stumbled across the testimonial and people thought she actually endorsed this other coach?

Lesson:  You have to be so careful who you give permission to use your brand photos! That’s your intellectual property!

Your brand is a very valuable asset of your business! 

Okay, rant over. Let’s get this taken care of! 

The very first place to start with protecting your brand is by having well-drafted Website Terms and Conditions that specifically cover your intellectual property, including your brand name, program names, designs, graphics, photos, videos, and all your original content.  

From there, you need to make sure every time you do a podcast or summit or share your brand photos with someone that you only agree for them to use them for a specific purpose in a specific context. 

This will protect you from having others using your photos and brand without your expressed approval. Protect your intellectual property.

Does this email have you thinking about some legal holes in your business? 

Maybe you are using photos with testimonials but not getting consent to use the photos? 

I’ve got a contract for that! 😉

Well, technically it’s a release – a Testimonial Release. It’s in my Legal Umbrella Kit. 

I’d love to talk you through the specifics of getting your brand and business protected. 

Book your free Rainy Day Call with me here to plug up any leaky, legal holes. 

Did you enjoy this article? If so, explore similar content here: Entrepreneurs 101 – Layne Lyons JD, Layne Lyons Legal and Business 101 – How to Legally Protect Your Business