Software

How do I copyright my videos?

copyright personal DVDs

This is a question that came to me as editor-in-chief of PC Pro. A reader wanted to know how he could copyright videos (in his case DVDs!), to which I explained that it isn’t really an issue: in the UK (and the US), you’re automatically granted copyright.

In fact, when you see the little © symbol on any publication or video, it’s essentially meaningless. It’s more a statement of intent – that the copyright owner will get annoyed if you reproduce their content without permission – than anything legal.

All that said, you can add a copyright statement to your videos if you wish. You’ll need to fire up some video editing software, which in Windows 10 involves typing “Video editor” into the search bar.

This will in fact load up the Photos app, but you’ll find yourself in the right tab for creating videos. Here, you can see all the previous videos I’ve made in the app.

fire up Photos app

You can create a new one from scratch (press the “New video button) or click on an existing video you’ve made. So, here’s one I made earlier:

add text to video

I now need to click on the video in the storyboard and then the Text button to the right. Below, I head to the end of the video, then write “© Big Tech Question”. I’ve opted for the Quiet font. Incidentally, if you want to type © then hold down Alt and press 0 1 6 9.

copyright personal DVDs

You can then export your video at 720p, say, before using your chosen software to burn it to DVD.

I haven’t used it myself, but DVD Flick appears to be a solid, open-source choice.

READ THIS NEXT: What does 4K mean?

About the author

Tim Danton

Tim Danton is editor-in-chief of PC Pro magazine and has written about technology since 1999. He enjoys playing with gadgets, playing with words and playing tennis. Email tim@bigtechquestion.com

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