Copyright is the intellectual property right people rely on most and understand least. It protects a great deal automatically, requires no registration in the UK, and is routinely misunderstood in ways that cost creators money and expose users to liability.
Copyright law operates UK-wide under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and subsequent amendments.
What Copyright Protects
Copyright arises automatically on creation, with no registration, fee or notice required. It protects the expression of an idea rather than the idea itself.
- Literary works, including articles, books, song lyrics and software code
- Artistic works, including photographs, illustrations, diagrams and some designs
- Musical works, separately from the lyrics and from the recording
- Sound recordings, films and broadcasts, each as distinct rights
- Typographical arrangement of published editions
Not protected: ideas, facts, names, titles and slogans, which may instead be covered by trade mark law; and works whose copyright has expired.
Who Owns It
The default is that the author owns the copyright, with important exceptions.
- Employees. Work created by an employee in the course of employment is generally owned by the employer.
- Freelancers and contractors. The freelancer generally retains copyright unless there is a written assignment. This surprises a great many businesses who assume paying for work buys the rights.
- Commissioned photography. The photographer generally owns copyright, not the person who commissioned the shoot.
- Joint authorship where contributions are not distinct, requiring all owners to consent to licensing.
- Assignment must be in writing and signed to transfer ownership. A licence, by contrast, permits use without transferring ownership.
If you are commissioning creative work and need to own it, say so in writing before the work starts.
Duration and Moral Rights
| Work | General duration |
|---|---|
| Literary, dramatic, musical, artistic | Life of the author plus 70 years |
| Sound recordings | Generally 70 years from release |
| Films | 70 years from the death of the last of certain specified contributors |
| Broadcasts | Generally 50 years |
| Typographical arrangement | Generally 25 years from publication |
Separately, authors have moral rights, including the right to be identified as author and to object to derogatory treatment. These are personal to the author, cannot be assigned, and the identification right generally must be asserted.
Fair Dealing, Not Fair Use
This is a frequent and consequential error. The UK does not have a broad American-style fair use doctrine. It has narrower statutory exceptions, and use must fall within one of them.
Exceptions include, in defined circumstances, non-commercial research and private study, criticism and review, quotation, reporting current events, caricature, parody or pastiche, and accessibility for disabled people. Each has conditions, and several require sufficient acknowledgement and that the dealing be fair, judged on factors including the amount used and the effect on the market for the original.
“I credited the source” is not a defence in itself. Nor is “it was only a short extract”, “it was on the internet”, or “it was not for profit”.
Infringement and Remedies
Infringement includes copying, issuing copies to the public, renting or lending, performing or showing in public, communicating to the public including online, and adapting a work. Secondary infringement covers dealing in infringing copies.
Available remedies generally include injunctions, damages or an account of profits, delivery up of infringing copies, and disclosure orders. Serious commercial infringement can also be a criminal offence.
Practical steps if your work is used without permission: record the infringement with dates and screenshots, identify the user, send a clear letter setting out your rights and what you want, use platform takedown procedures where relevant, and take advice before threatening proceedings, as unjustified threats can themselves create liability in some IP contexts.
Licensing in Practice
- Read the licence, not the platform. Stock images, fonts and music all carry licences with specific scope on territory, media and duration.
- Check whether commercial use is permitted, and whether the licence covers broadcast or paid advertising if you extend a campaign.
- Font licences frequently cover print and web but not video or app embedding.
- Music involves separate rights in the composition and the recording, both of which may need clearing.
- Creative Commons licences vary considerably; some prohibit commercial use or derivatives.
- Keep licence records, because the burden of showing permission falls on you.
Courts, Advice and Regional Provision
In the North West, court and legal coverage appears in the Manchester Chronicle and Liverpool Tribune. Yorkshire is covered by Leeds Angle, reporting from a substantial legal sector, plus Sheffield Voice and Bradford Daily.
Scotland operates a separate legal system, and coverage appears in Glasgow Bulletin and Edinburgh Scope. Northern Ireland, also a distinct jurisdiction, is reported by the Belfast Record.
Midlands courts and advice provision are covered by Birmingham Focus, Coventry Insight, Leicester Echo, Derby Digest and Nottingham Times. The Newcastle Brief and Hull Report cover the North East and Humber.
Southern provision is reported by Brighton Update, Southampton Ledger, Plymouth Wire and Bristol Outlook, with London covered by London Signals and Capital Outlook. Benefits and support policy is followed via DWP UK Latest News, with business and industry reporting in Trade Mirror.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to register copyright?
No. It arises automatically on creation in the UK. Keeping dated evidence of creation is still useful for proving ownership.
Is the © symbol necessary?
Not for protection, though it is useful as notice and may assist in some jurisdictions.
I paid a designer, so I own the logo?
Not necessarily. Without a written assignment the designer may retain copyright. Get assignment in writing, ideally before work begins.
Can I use a few seconds of a song?
Generally not without a licence. There is no minimum duration that is automatically permitted in UK law.
Further Reading
Legal, court and policy reporting appears across News Notes, Local News Point, Weekly Journal and Trends Archive. Firms and organisations seeking coverage use agencies listed via Local PR Services, PR Directory and Press Hubs.
The Bottom Line
Copyright is automatic and needs no registration, but ownership does not follow payment — commissioning work does not transfer rights without a written assignment.
The UK has narrow statutory exceptions, not broad fair use, so crediting a source is not a defence. Read licences for scope on territory, media and duration, keep the records, and get assignments in writing before creative work starts rather than afterwards.
This article is general information about the law in the United Kingdom and is NOT legal advice. It cannot take account of your circumstances, and acting on general information rather than advice about your own situation can be costly. The law differs between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and several areas covered here are subject to active reform, so provisions, thresholds, fees and time limits change. Figures and time limits cited were believed correct in general terms at the time of writing but must be verified against current official sources. For advice on your own position, consult a solicitor, an accredited adviser, Citizens Advice, or the relevant regulator or ombudsman. Time limits in legal matters are strict and missing one can end a claim permanently, so seek advice early.