# Joe Naylor

> Joe Naylor is the co-founder, president and CEO of ImageRights, a Boston-based company that helps photographers, artists, agencies and publishers find unauthorized uses of visual work, register copyrights and pursue claims. An electrical engineer with more than three decades in communications and internet services, he has moved from startup operations into creator-rights advocacy as president of the Digital Media Licensing Association and a member of the U.S. Copyright Office’s Copyright Public Modernization Committee.

- **Role:** President, CEO and Co-Founder at ImageRights International; President of the Digital Media Licensing Association
- **Organizations:** ImageRights International, Digital Media Licensing Association, U.S. Copyright Office Copyright Public Modernization Committee, eFax.com, j2 Global Communications, WebMessenger, Copyright Alliance
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Program for Leadership Development, Harvard Business School
- **Known for:** Co-founded ImageRights, combining visual search, copyright registration and infringement-claim workflows., Elected and re-elected president of the Digital Media Licensing Association, with the current term running from 2026 to 2028., Appointed to the U.S. Copyright Office Copyright Public Modernization Committee in 2024.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2008** — Worked in the design, development, operations, sales and marketing of communications and internet-based services, including roles connected to eFax.com, j2 Global Communications and WebMessenger.
- **2008** — Began collaborating with professional photographer Ted VanCleave on online copyright-protection problems.
- **2009** — Co-founded ImageRights International and launched its image-search service.
- **2010** — Added ImageRights Recovery after photographers asked what they could do with discovered unauthorized uses; Naylor personally handled early calls to alleged infringers.
- **2018** — Appointed chair of the Digital Media Licensing Association Technology Committee.
- **2022** — Elected DMLA treasurer for the 2022-2024 term and re-elected to its board.
- **2024** — Became DMLA president, spoke on protecting creative work at Perspective 2024 and was appointed to the U.S. Copyright Office Copyright Public Modernization Committee.
- **2025** — Led drafting of DMLA's response on copyright-aligned AI regulatory reform as DMLA president and chair of its Copyright & AI Working Group.
- **2026** — Re-elected DMLA president for the 2026-2028 term and submitted ImageRights comments opposing proposed U.S. Copyright Office fee increases.

## Achievements

- Co-founded ImageRights, combining visual search, copyright registration and infringement-claim workflows.
- Elected and re-elected president of the Digital Media Licensing Association, with the current term running from 2026 to 2028.
- Appointed to the U.S. Copyright Office Copyright Public Modernization Committee in 2024.
- Previously served as DMLA Technology Committee chair and DMLA treasurer.
- Helped build an ImageRights service that had registered almost 2 million images with the U.S. Copyright Office by May 2026.
- Led DMLA drafting work on copyright-aligned AI regulatory reform in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — ImageRights joined IMATAG's copyright-enforcement partner program, linking invisible watermarking and visual traceability with ImageRights' legal enforcement network.
- **2026-05** — ImageRights announced Naylor's re-election as DMLA president for the 2026-2028 term.
- **2026-05** — Naylor authored ImageRights' comments opposing proposed U.S. Copyright Office fee increases and asking for economic analysis and a delay pending system modernization.
- **2025-10** — Naylor led drafting of DMLA's response to a federal request for information on AI regulatory reform, arguing for copyright-aligned policy.

## Links

- Website: https://www.imagerights.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joenaylor
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/joeynaylor
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ImageRights
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/imagerights
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/ImageRights/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joe-naylor
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-22