EOS R5 Mark II Whether to Use Copyright Feature

[boelens218]

Hello,

I'm trying to decide if I want to use the copyright feature on my new r5 mark 2 camera. What is the purpose of this feature exactly? I understand this will embed the information provided in the metadata. However, someone can easily remove this information from the metadata. Therefore, I don't understand the point. 

Thank you,

[p4pictures]

Your camera has multiple possibilities for metadata to be added to images. 

1. Copyright - authors name and details, added in the camera menu or EOS Utility is readily seen and read, but also straightforward to remove from images. 

2. Owners name - this is a Canon special metadata field that is set with EOS Utility and is not shown on the camera menu screens. Being saved in maker specific metadata areas it is much less likely to be removed, but certainly can be. 

3. IPTC metadata (for photos) - this can be set from EOS Utility or the Canon Content Transfer Professional app. This is a collection of standard metadata fields (about 40 different fields) that can be added to the images as they are captured. You can choose to add the metadata or not with a setting in the camera menu, but you cannot change or see the metadata on the camera screen. Being standard IPTC metadata it is also straightforward to remove. 

4. NewsML G2 - (for movies) - this can be set by adding the metadata file to the memory card in the camera or from EOS Utility or the Canon Content Transfer Professional app. This is a collection of standard metadata fields that can be added to the movies as they are captured. You can choose to add the metadata or not with a setting in the camera menu, but you cannot change or see the metadata on the camera screen.

Metadata is by its nature a part of images that is largely standardised, and this is necessary for other software to read the metadata. This also makes it straightforward to edit or overwrite too. 

I add copyright and some IPTC information to the images I capture. It is there and can be removed, but to me it is better than not being there. It does not impact the camera performance. 

[johnrmoyer]

A copyright notice informs honest people of ownership. Thieves do not care about ownership.

Like  

p4pictures

I add copyright notice and IPTC. I also add location, description, and keywords. 

For example: 

https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Jul30_birds_and_cats/2025jul24_bumblebee_IMG_4241c.html has camera settings.

Zinnia cultivar being pollinated by a threatened species American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on July 24, 2025 

https://getpmd.iptc.org/getpmd/?imgurl=https://www.rsok.com/~jrm/2025Jul30_birds_and_cats/2025jul24_... displays IPTC meta data.

Zinnia cultivar being pollinated by a threatened species American Bumble Bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) in Norman, Oklahoma, United States on July 24, 2025

Metadata Working Group standard tags (would be nice if DPP would enable adding these but exiftool works fine for me ) : https://exiftool.org/TagNames/MWG.html 

https://www.iptc.org/std/photometadata/documentation/userguide/ "This document is designed to familiarise photographers, photo editors and metadata managers with the use of the IPTC Photo Metadata Standard. It provides a short guideline on the use and semantics of each IPTC field (also called metadata property)." 

[boelens218]

Thanks for the detailed information. As you said, the information can be removed but it's better than not being there. That makes sense to me and therefore will use #1, copyright.

I'm a beginner with photography and do not work for any company. With that being said, I would obviously enter my first and last name for the author's name. For the copyright details, should I enter Copyright, All Rights Reserved?

I don't want to include a year for the copyright details because that will change. I would like to enter something that can remain the same. 

The problem is, I already took some photos without using the copyright feature. I record in raw+jpg. I can easily add this information to my jpgs just by using file>properties in Windows. From there, I can simply enter the information in the author and copyright fields. Doing so will not change the jpg in any other way. For example, by effecting the file size. However, I can't do this with my CR3 files. 

How can I add the copyright information to my CR3 files without effecting the file in ANY other way? I do not support Adobe in anyway. I use Affinity Photo which unfortunately can't do this. At least not that I know of. 

Can the Canon EOS utility do this and are you certain it won't affect the file in ANY other way?

Thank you,

[johnrmoyer]

Free software https://exiftool.org/ 

But I do not modify the raw files. Nor do I publish the raw files. 

If in US, https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/prints-and-photographs/researcher-resources/copyright-and-right... 

I do not register copyrights.
https://www.copyright.gov/engage/photographers/ 

If you’re a photographer, there are a few key things to know about copyright law and the protections available to you.

First, copyright protects original works of authorship, including original photographs. A work is original if it is independently created and is sufficiently creative. Creativity in photography can be found in a variety of ways and reflect the photographer’s artistic choices like the angle and position of subject(s) in the photograph, lighting, and timing. As a copyright owner, you have the right to make, sell or otherwise distribute copies, adapt the work, and publicly display your work.

Second, you should know that copyright protection exists from the moment an original work is “fixed” in a tangible medium. For photographers, for example, fixation occurs when you take a picture. You don’t need to do anything else at all for your work to be protected by copyright.

Registering Your Work

Although your work is protected by copyright from the moment it is fixed, the U.S. Copyright Office recommends registering it with us to make a public record of your ownership, as well as for additional legal benefits like the ability to bring an infringement claim for U.S. works and to seek certain types of monetary remedies. Applying for registration with the U.S. Copyright Office requires an application, a filing fee, and a copy of the work (which the Office calls a “deposit”).

Depending on whether your work has been published, there are several different online application options. For copyright purposes, a photograph is published when copies of that photograph are distributed to the public by selling, renting, leasing, lending or otherwise transferring ownership of the copies. A photograph is also published when copies of that photograph are offered to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution or public display. The public display of a photograph, in and of itself, does not constitute publication.

[boelens218]

I can look into exiftool but rather not because its pretty advanced. Can this be done with the EOS utility?

[johnrmoyer]

An advantage to using EOS utility to put the IPTC information into the camera is that it will then also be in the CR3 files. 

If one were doing a shoot at a particular event or location, that could be put into the camera using the EOS utility and then changed before the next event. I would guess that this is how it was intended to be used by Press and sports photographers.

I only put the basic copyright information into the camera and add the rest including location and subject later as I process the photos.

[jrhoffman75]

"I don't want to include a year for the copyright details because that will change. I would like to enter something that can remain the same. "

On January 1 change 2025 to 2026 in camera.

I don't think you can access previously downloaded files using EOSU (at least I haven't been able to).

[Waddizzle]

“ However, someone can easily remove this information from the metadata. Therefore, I don't understand the point. “

Never release the RAW file. 

I am no professional, either.  I resumed the hobby as physical therapy.  I enter my name, date, and copyright information.   

[johnrmoyer]

"I don't want to include a year for the copyright details because that will change. I would like to enter something that can remain the same. " 

In the US, derived works are covered by the same copyright as the original. If the photo is changed enough to call it a new creative work, then there is a new copyright date when it is published. ( I am not a lawyer, so check what I say at loc.gov ) 

The copyright notice can be changed by exiftool, exiv2, and other software. Gimp free software for example uses libexiv2 for editing metadata.