How to register digital art (and prove it's yours)
Quick answer
under the Berne Convention —in force in 182 countries— your work is yours from the moment you create it: registration is not required. The problem isn't ownership; it's proving it. Registration fixes your authorship and a verifiable date, and options range from $1 USD and minutes (decentralized registration) to $367 MXN at Mexico's Indautor or US$45–65 at the U.S. Copyright Office.
Your art now lives in a world where an AI can generate a thousand images in seconds and anyone can download yours in two clicks. When someone uses it without permission —on an account, on a product, inside an AI model— the first question is never "whose is it?" but "who made it first, and how do you prove that?" Without evidence of authorship and date, even the clearest case comes down to your word against theirs.
This guide explains what the law actually says, which registration method fits your situation, and how to get a verifiable certificate for your work today — no paperwork marathon, no legal jargon.
Are you already the owner of your work without registering anything?
Yes. Copyright is born with the work, not with a filing. The Berne Convention —the world's oldest copyright treaty, from 1886— protects works in its 182 contracting states from the moment of creation, with no formalities required (WIPO, 2026). Mexico writes it into its own law: protection exists regardless of registration (art. 4, Federal Copyright Law), and inscription in the Public Copyright Registry "does not constitute a right" — it is declarative (art. 164). The U.S. Copyright Office says the same: protection exists from the moment a work is created and fixed in a tangible medium.
So why register at all? Because in practice, a right you cannot demonstrate behaves as if it didn't exist. Registration doesn't make you the owner — it makes you able to prove it.
Why doesn't ownership protect you if you can't prove it?
Because in any real dispute, the burden of proof is yours. When you ask a platform to take a work down, when a buyer doubts you're the artist, when someone posts your piece as their own, you need to show two things: that you made it, and when. And homemade evidence is weak: a local file's date can be edited, metadata disappears with a screenshot, and a "process folder" on your drive can't be verified by anyone but you.
Legal systems know this. In the United States, the law is explicit: you must register a U.S. work with the Copyright Office before you can sue for infringement (17 U.S.C. § 411(a)), and if registration happens within five years of publication, the certificate serves as prima facie evidence of validity in court (§ 410(c)). The Office summarizes the spirit behind every serious registration: putting the facts of your authorship on public record, with a date that doesn't depend on you.
The practical translation: whoever has early, independent, verifiable evidence wins the conversation. Everything else is arguable.
What are the ways to register digital artwork?
| Method | Cost | Time | Evidence you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No registration (automatic Berne protection) | $0 | — | None by itself: the burden of proof stays with you | Nobody, as a strategy |
| "Poor man's copyright" (mailing the work to yourself) | ~$0 | — | None: "there is no provision in the copyright law" for it, warns the U.S. Copyright Office | Nobody: don't |
| On-chain registration (MANNA) | $1 USD, one-time | Minutes | Authorship certificate with a decentralized timestamp (DATA Foundation), public validation QR, and an invisible watermark on the original | Everything you publish, the same day |
| Official registration in Mexico (Indautor) | $367 MXN per work | Days to weeks | A record in Mexico's Public Copyright Registry | The cornerstone work of your career, on official record |
| Official registration in the U.S. (U.S. Copyright Office) | US$45–65 per work | Months (the Office publishes average times) | Official certificate; enables U.S. lawsuits and prima facie proof if registered in time | Work with a U.S. market or disputes |
Cost sources: Indautor, "Tarifas y costos 2026" (art. 184, Federal Rights Law); U.S. Copyright Office, "Fees" (checked September 2026; a proposed increase to US$85 for the standard application is not yet in effect).
No option excludes the others. The combination I recommend has two tiers: fast, cheap registration for everything you publish — because its value depends on existing before the problem — and official registration for the work that anchors your career or business. Private deposit services are another variant: annual subscription, days of waiting, and a receipt that can only be checked on their platform.
How do I register my artwork in minutes, step by step?
- 1
Upload your work at manna.art/registro: JPG, PNG, or WebP, longest side at least 1024 px, up to 50 MB. No crypto wallet, no legal knowledge.
- 2
Confirm title and details. You pay $1 USD (introductory price; see pricing) and the authorship certificate is generated with a decentralized registration in 2–5 minutes, with a public timestamp.
- 3
Download your certificate. It carries a QR code anyone can scan to validate authorship and date on the work's public page, linked to your creator profile. The invisible watermark (in-house engine, manna-v1) is applied to the registered original.
What evidence actually holds up in a dispute?
Three traits separate useful evidence from wet paper:
- It's early. A record dated before the conflict counts; one made after looks like a reaction. Registering costs less than regretting.
- It's independent. You don't control the date: a decentralized timestamp or a public office sets it, not your computer.
- Anyone can verify it. A certificate with a public QR is checked without asking you or the issuing platform for permission — that's how ID validation works at manna.art/verificar.
Add forensic evidence on top: the invisible watermark survives crops, screenshots, and recompression, linking the circulating copy back to the registered original. None of these pieces "wins" a case on its own — official registration and, if things escalate, a lawyer still matter — but they change the opening conversation completely: from "I say it's mine" to "here's the certificate, the date, and the public verification." Most conflicts die right there.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register my work to own the copyright?
No. Under the Berne Convention (182 countries) and the national laws that implement it — articles 4 and 164 of Mexico's LFD among them — the right exists from creation. Registration doesn't create the right: it creates the proof.
Does the "poor man's copyright" (mailing the work to myself) work?
No. The U.S. Copyright Office is blunt about the practice: there is no provision in copyright law for it, and it is no substitute for registration. The postmark looks like evidence, but it proves nothing about authorship and doesn't survive a serious challenge.
I live in Mexico — is Indautor registration worth it?
Yes, as an official public record: $367 MXN per work (2026 fee) and an inscription in the Public Copyright Registry. It's declarative — it doesn't "grant" rights — but it's a government anchor with a date for the work that matters most to you.
Does my registration in one country work everywhere?
Your right does: under Berne, protection is automatic across all 182 treaty countries without registering in each one. The evidence is weighed by each court or platform on its own criteria — which is why a public, verifiable, dated proof matters.
Is a decentralized certificate a legal title of ownership?
Not exactly, and precision matters: nobody "grants" copyright — it's born with the work. An decentralized certificate documents authorship and date in a public record no one can edit afterward, and anyone can verify. It's evidence — the same class as a timestamped deposit, but verifiable in seconds.
How much does each option cost, and how long does it take?
On-chain registration at MANNA: $1 USD and minutes. Indautor: $367 MXN and days to weeks. U.S. Office: US$45–65 and months. Full details and sources are in this guide's comparison table.
Sources
(checked September 2026)
- WIPO Lex — Berne Convention: 182 contracting states. wipo.int
- Indautor — "Tarifas y costos 2026": literary or artistic work registration, $367.00 MXN (art. 184). indautor.gob.mx/costosf.php
- U.S. Copyright Office — "Fees": US$45 single application / US$65 standard. copyright.gov/about/fees.html
- U.S. Copyright Office — "Copyright in General (FAQ)": automatic protection; registration voluntary but required to sue; prima facie evidence within 5 years; "poor man's copyright" unsupported. copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
- Mexico's Federal Copyright Law (LFDA), arts. 4 and 164; 17 U.S.C. §§ 410(c) and 411(a).