UK Copyright Law Explained: What Is Protected and for How Long
Copyright protects original writing, music, art, software, films and recordings automatically under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, with no registration. Most works are protected for the author's life plus 70 years.
Key points
- Copyright is automatic under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988: no registration, no fee and no notice is needed, though a copyright line helps prove ownership.
- Books, music, art, photographs, software and websites are protected for the author's life plus 70 years; sound recordings get 70 years, broadcasts 50 and published editions 25.
- Employers own what employees create in the course of their job, but freelancers and agencies keep copyright in commissioned work unless they sign a written assignment.
- Fair dealing exceptions are narrow and specific; crediting the author, using a small amount or not making money does not make copying lawful.
- The March 2026 government report dropped the proposed text and data mining exception for AI training, so the law is unchanged and no bill has been introduced.
- Claims worth up to £10,000 can use the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court small claims track; its main track caps damages at £500,000.
Copyright in the UK arises automatically the moment an original work is written down or recorded; there is no register, no form and no fee. It is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) and protects writing, music, art, photographs, software, films, sound recordings and broadcasts against copying, distribution, adaptation and online sharing without permission. For most works it lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years, with shorter terms for recordings, broadcasts and published editions. This guide covers what qualifies, how long protection lasts, who owns it, how it is licensed or sold, the fair dealing exceptions, infringement online, where the artificial intelligence debate stands in late 2026, and when a solicitor is worth the cost.
What copyright protects, and what it does not
Section 1 of the CDPA lists the categories: original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works; sound recordings, films and broadcasts; and the typographical arrangement of published editions. "Literary" is wider than it sounds and includes computer programs, preparatory design material for software, compilations and databases. Artistic works include photographs, graphic works, sculptures, buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, whatever their merit.
The threshold is originality, meaning the work is the author's own intellectual creation rather than a copy, and fixation, meaning it has been recorded in some form. The bar is low: a short marketing paragraph or a product photograph will usually qualify, though a single ordinary word or a bare title generally will not. Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Facts, news as such, methods, styles and formats are free for all to use.
Other rights pick up what copyright leaves out: names, logos and slogans belong to trade mark registration, inventions to patents and the appearance of products to design rights. A database whose contents took substantial investment to collect also attracts a separate database right lasting 15 years.
How long copyright lasts
The term depends on the type of work and runs from the end of the calendar year in which the trigger event happens:
- Literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, including photographs and software: the author's life plus 70 years.
- Films: 70 years from the death of the last to die of the principal director, the screenplay author, the dialogue author and the composer of music written for the film.
- Sound recordings: 70 years from release (or from making, if never released). The term rose from 50 to 70 years on 1 November 2013.
- Broadcasts: 50 years from first transmission.
- The typographical arrangement of a published edition: 25 years from first publication.
- Works of unknown authorship: 70 years from creation or, if made available to the public within that time, 70 years from that date.
- Computer-generated works with no human author: 50 years from the year they were made, under section 12(7).
Once copyright expires the work enters the public domain and anyone may copy, adapt or sell it. A new translation, arrangement, edition or recording of a public domain work attracts fresh copyright in the new material only.
Who owns the copyright
The author, meaning the person who creates the work, is the first owner under section 11. Two situations catch people out.
The first is employment. Work made by an employee in the course of employment belongs to the employer unless the contract says otherwise (section 11(2)). A developer's code written on the payroll belongs to the employer; a novel written at weekends does not. Where the boundary lies is a question of fact, which is why well-drafted employment contracts deal with intellectual property expressly.
The second is commissioned work. Paying for a work does not make you its owner. A freelance photographer, web designer, copywriter or logo designer keeps the copyright unless they sign a written assignment; the client usually gets only an implied licence to use the work for the purpose it was commissioned for, which may be narrower than hoped. A business that wants to own its brand assets, website and marketing material outright needs assignment clauses in every supplier contract, something a business law solicitor will include as standard.
Licensing, assignment and moral rights
An assignment transfers ownership. Under section 90(3) it is effective only if it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of the person giving it up; it can be limited to particular rights, territories or periods, and under section 91 it can cover works not yet created. A licence is permission to do something the owner could otherwise stop. An exclusive licence must also be in writing (section 92); a non-exclusive licence can be oral or implied, but writing it down avoids argument. A written licence should state the permitted uses, territory, duration, exclusivity, fee and how it ends.
Authors also have moral rights under Chapter IV of the Act: to be identified as the author (a right that must be asserted, usually in the contract or on the work), to object to derogatory treatment of the work, not to have work falsely attributed to them, and to privacy in photographs and films commissioned for private purposes. Moral rights cannot be assigned but can be waived in writing. They last as long as copyright, except the false attribution right, which ends 20 years after death, and they do not apply to computer programs.
Fair dealing: what you can use without permission
The UK has no general "fair use" defence. Instead sections 28 to 76 of the CDPA contain specific exceptions, the best known being the fair dealing exceptions:
- research and private study for a non-commercial purpose (section 29);
- criticism, review and quotation (section 30), provided the work has been made available to the public, you take no more than the purpose requires and you acknowledge the source;
- reporting current events (section 30(2)), which does not cover photographs;
- caricature, parody and pastiche (section 30A, added on 1 October 2014);
- text and data analysis for non-commercial research (section 29A).
Further exceptions cover incidental inclusion, education, disability, libraries and archives, temporary technical copies and recording a broadcast to watch later. Whether a dealing is "fair" is judged by how a fair-minded and honest person would have acted, looking at how much was taken and whether the use competes with the original.
Several popular beliefs are not exceptions. Non-commercial use, crediting the author, using "only 10%" or "under 30 seconds", finding an image through a search engine and changing a work slightly are all infringements if a substantial part is copied. Nor is there a private copying exception: the one introduced in 2014 was quashed by the High Court in 2015, so copying your own CDs onto a phone remains, strictly, an infringement that rights holders choose not to pursue.
Infringement online, takedowns and the AI debate
The owner's exclusive rights in sections 16 to 21 cover copying, issuing copies, renting, performing or showing in public, communicating to the public (which includes uploading) and adapting the work, in whole or in a substantial part judged by quality rather than quantity.
Online, the quickest remedy is usually a takedown notice to the platform or host. The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 protect hosts from liability only until they have actual knowledge of infringing content, so platforms, marketplaces and hosting companies operate reporting forms and act on specific, evidenced notices. For a rogue website, send the notice to the hosting company and ask search engines to delist the page.
Artificial intelligence is the live issue. Generative models are trained on vast quantities of copyright material, and UK law offers only the narrow non-commercial text and data analysis exception. After a consultation that favoured a broader exception with an opt-out for rights holders, the government published the report and impact assessment required by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 on 18 March 2026: the opt-out exception was dropped, no mandatory transparency regime for training data was proposed, and the government committed instead to encouraging licensing markets, supporting the labelling of AI-generated content and, in time, removing the protection for computer-generated works. No bill has been introduced. As at October 2026, therefore, training on copyright works without a licence outside non-commercial research is, in principle, infringement, and the protection of purely machine-generated output is uncertain. Businesses using AI tools commercially should check the tool's terms and keep records of the human creative input.
Remedies, the courts and proving ownership
The civil remedies in sections 96 to 100 are an injunction, damages (commonly the licence fee the infringer should have paid) or an account of the infringer's profits, delivery up or destruction of infringing copies, and additional damages where the infringement was flagrant. An infringer who did not know and had no reason to believe the work was protected escapes damages but not the other remedies. Deliberate commercial piracy is also a criminal offence under section 107. The time limit for a civil claim is six years.
The specialist court is the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) in London, designed for smaller disputes. Its small claims track takes copyright, trade mark, passing off and unregistered design claims worth up to £10,000, with minimal costs risk. Its main track caps damages at £500,000 and the costs a loser pays at £60,000 for the liability stage and £30,000 for assessing damages; larger claims go to the High Court. The Act applies throughout the UK, but Scottish cases are heard in the Court of Session or sheriff courts under Scottish procedure. The guide to dispute resolution and litigation explains the stages, and a letter before claim and an offer to mediate should always come first.
Because there is no register, proving ownership means keeping evidence: dated drafts and native files with their metadata, emails and contracts showing who created what and when, and invoices for commissioned work with the assignment attached. A copyright line with your name and the year is not required but tells the world who owns the work and defeats any claim of innocent infringement.
When to see a solicitor and what it costs
Most people never need a lawyer for copyright: a clear licence or a polite takedown notice resolves most problems. A solicitor earns their fee when money or a business depends on the answer: drafting or checking assignments and licences, auditing who owns a company's brand assets and code before a sale or investment, sending a letter before claim when a takedown has been ignored, or defending an infringement allegation.
Document work is usually a fixed fee, and many firms offer a free or low-cost first meeting. Disputes are charged by the hour, though a conditional fee agreement is sometimes available for a valuable claim, and legal expenses cover on a business insurance policy may pay for an intellectual property dispute if you notify the insurer early. For smaller claims the IPEC small claims track is designed to be used without a lawyer, often after an hour of paid advice on the merits. Before sharing unpublished work with a potential partner, a non-disclosure agreement adds a contractual layer on top of copyright. To find help, see the guide to intellectual property solicitors, search IP solicitors in Bristol or solicitors in Leeds with an intellectual property practice, and read how solicitors charge and the overview of intellectual property law before your first meeting.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register copyright in the UK?
No, and you cannot: the UK has no copyright register. Protection arises automatically when an original work is recorded in any form. What matters is being able to prove you created it and when, so keep dated drafts, original files with metadata, and contracts or emails showing who did the work. Adding a copyright line with your name and the year is optional but useful. Private registration services exist, but they only store evidence and give you no additional legal rights.
Can I use a photo I found online if I credit the photographer?
Not without permission. Crediting the author is required under several fair dealing exceptions but it is not an exception in itself, and using a photograph to illustrate a blog, product listing or social media post is not criticism, review, quotation or news reporting. The photographer can claim the licence fee they would have charged, often with an uplift, and photo agencies pursue such claims routinely. Use licensed stock images, images released under a licence whose terms you follow, or your own.
Who owns the copyright in a logo or website I paid a designer for?
The designer, unless they assigned it to you in writing. Paying for the work gives you an implied licence to use it for the purpose it was commissioned for, but not ownership, so you may be unable to stop the designer reusing elements or to license the work to others. Ask for a signed assignment of copyright, ideally in the original contract, and check the terms of any design platform or agency before you commission. This matters most for logos, which you will also want to register as trade marks.
Is it legal to copy my own CDs or DVDs for personal use?
Strictly, no. A private copying exception was introduced in October 2014 but quashed by the High Court in 2015 because it provided no compensation for rights holders, and it has not been replaced. Making a copy of a CD you own for your phone is therefore an infringement in principle, although rights holders do not pursue individuals for it. Streaming services and licensed downloads avoid the problem, and recording a broadcast to watch later remains lawful under its own exception.
Does AI-generated content have copyright in the UK?
Possibly, but the position is uncertain. Section 9(3) of the CDPA treats the person who made the arrangements as the author of a computer-generated work with no human author, and section 12(7) gives it a 50-year term, but it is unclear how that applies to modern generative tools or whether such output is "original". In March 2026 the government said it intends to remove this protection, with no timetable. Where a person has made real creative choices in prompting, selecting and editing, ordinary copyright is more likely to apply, so keep records of that input.
How much compensation can I claim if someone copies my work?
Usually the fee you would have charged for a licence, or the profit the infringer made from the copying, with additional damages possible where the infringement was flagrant. For a photograph or short text that is often a few hundred pounds, which is why such claims suit the IPEC small claims track for claims up to £10,000, where you can act without a lawyer and costs exposure is minimal. Larger commercial claims go to the main IPEC track, which caps damages at £500,000, or to the High Court.
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This guide describes the law in United Kingdom as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.