Whether you're based in London or Los Angeles, understanding how copyright law protects your photography is essential. Here's how the UK and US systems compare.
Automatic Copyright Protection
United Kingdom
Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA), copyright in a photograph exists automatically from the moment of creation. You don't need to register, mark, or publish the image — copyright is yours from the moment you press the shutter.
The author of a photograph (and initial copyright owner) is generally the photographer. However, if you created the photograph in the course of employment, copyright belongs to your employer unless otherwise agreed.
United States
US copyright is also automatic from creation. However, registration with the US Copyright Office provides significant legal advantages:
- Access to statutory damages ($750–$30,000 per work; up to $150,000 for wilful infringement)
- Recovery of attorney's fees from the infringer
- The ability to sue in federal court
You cannot sue for copyright infringement in the US without registration. This is a critical difference from the UK.
Duration of Copyright Protection
United Kingdom
Photographs are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. For a photograph taken by a named photographer, protection runs from the year of the photographer's death until the end of the 70th year following.
For anonymous photographs and photographs taken for an employer, special rules apply.
United States
The general rule is also life plus 70 years for works created after January 1, 1978. Works registered before 1978 follow complex transitional rules, with some older works already in the public domain.
What Constitutes Infringement
Both Jurisdictions
Copyright is infringed when someone does one of the restricted acts without your permission — most relevantly for photographers:
- Reproducing the photograph (copying it)
- Publishing it to the public
- Displaying it online
- Creating a derivative work based on it
Intent is irrelevant in both jurisdictions. An infringer who genuinely didn't know a photo was copyrighted is still an infringer, though lack of knowledge may affect damages.
Fair Use vs. Fair Dealing
This is one of the most significant differences between the two systems.
United Kingdom: Fair Dealing
UK copyright law provides specific, narrow exceptions called fair dealing. These permit use without permission only for particular purposes:
- Research and private study
- Criticism, review, and quotation
- Reporting current events
- Parody and satire (limited)
The exception must be "fair" — not commercially exploitative and properly attributed.
United States: Fair Use
US fair use is a flexible, four-factor test:
- Purpose and character of the use (commercial vs. non-commercial; transformative?)
- Nature of the copyrighted work
- Amount and substantiality of the portion taken
- Effect on the market for the original
US fair use is broader and more unpredictable than UK fair dealing. A transformative use (e.g., using a photo as the basis for a painting) may be fair use in the US but not permitted in the UK.
Remedies for Infringement
United Kingdom
- Injunction — court order to stop the infringement
- Damages — compensatory (licence fee plus loss of business) or an account of profits
- Delivery up — return or destruction of infringing copies
- Norwich Pharmacal orders — to identify anonymous infringers
- No statutory damages; no attorney's fees provision equivalent to the US
United States
- Injunction
- Actual damages plus infringer's profits
- Statutory damages — $750–$30,000 per infringement (requires registration)
- Attorney's fees (requires registration)
- Criminal penalties for large-scale commercial piracy
Practical Implications for Photographers
If you're UK-based:
- Copyright protection is strong, but damages can be harder to quantify
- Keep records of licensing rates to support compensation claims
- Consider registering with the UK's Copyright Licensing Agency for collective licensing revenue
If you're US-based:
- Register your images with the Copyright Office before publishing, or within 3 months of publication
- Registration is cheap ($65–$85 per collection) and dramatically increases your leverage
- Statutory damages make even small infringements worth pursuing
If you license internationally:
- Both the UK and US are signatories to the Berne Convention, so your copyright is recognised in 180+ countries
- Local remedies vary enormously — enforcement in some markets is difficult even with strong rights on paper
ImageClaim generates cease and desist letters and DMCA notices under both UK and US law.