Creating Prerelease Photo & Video Assets

If a business process requires an image of a specific detail of a product or package, selectively capture only this detail in images rather than capturing the entire object and cropping, to avoid creating assets with unnecessary IP content.

If an image or video is needed by a third party to fulfill a business process, licensees should supply the digital asset, rather than supplying samples to the third party for asset creation, whenever possible.

If a licensee must send samples to a third party for non-public-facing asset creation, these samples should have a prominent, unique indelible marking applied so they are identifiable in all images/videos captured legitimately and illicitly, should this occur.

If a third party must create image/video assets on site, licensees should require the third party to use a uniquely identifying backdrop for all assets they create, such as one printed with their company logo or name.

Return of samples by third parties should be prearranged as a condition of receiving them, and enforced by the licensee.

Whether licensee is creating image/video assets internally or sending samples to a third party that will be used to create image/video assets, they should send at the latest point that can support business needs, to limit the span in which the samples or assets represent unrevealed IP.

Define points in production when images must regularly be captured for internal or third-party needs and support these points with designated staff who can serve as centralized sources and stewards. Staff should understand creation, storage, and distribution of images/videos, sourcing and shipment of physical samples, the IP content of the items and assets they are handling, and the specific needs of the third parties being served.

Use designated equipment that is not able to connect to the internet or any private cloud storage accounts to capture images/videos.

Remove any IP components of samples being shipped to third parties that will not be required for their process –for example, if packaging contains IP images/text, and is not needed, remove samples from packages before shipping.