Copyright Basics for Creators

If you write, draw, photograph, film, compose or code, you create copyright every time you make something. You do not need to register anything, pay a fee or print a notice for it to exist — in the United Kingdom, the United States and most of the world, copyright arises automatically the moment an original work is fixed in a tangible form. What many creators do not know is what exactly that protection covers, how long it lasts, and where its limits lie.

This guide explains copyright basics for creators: what copyright protects and what it does not, who owns it, how long it lasts, and how to use other people’s work without infringing. The core rules are similar in the UK and the US, but the exceptions have different names and different scopes — “fair dealing” in the UK, “fair use” in the US — and this guide explains both.

What Is Copyright?

Copyright is a legal right that gives the creator of an original work control over how that work is used. It covers literary works, including books, articles, blog posts and computer programs; dramatic, musical and artistic works, including plays, songs, paintings, drawings and photographs; and films, sound recordings and broadcasts. It also covers less obvious works such as maps, charts, architectural designs and choreography.

To qualify for copyright protection, a work must be original — meaning independently created, not copied — and it must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression. An idea in your head is not protected; the same idea written down, recorded, painted or coded is. The threshold for originality is low: a work does not need to be brilliant or new to the world, only the product of some creative effort on the part of its author. The UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the US Copyright Act, found in Title 17 of the United States Code, are the two main statutes creators encounter, and both are underpinned by the Berne Convention, an international treaty that means a work protected in one member country is protected in the others.

Copyright is different from the other main kinds of intellectual property. A patent protects inventions and new processes, and a trade mark protects brand names and logos that identify a business. Creators who build a brand around their work, for example a YouTube channel or a design studio, may need trade marks as well as copyright. For more on how creators can protect and grow their work, see our Technology section.

What Copyright Protects — and What It Does Not

Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. You can write a novel about time-travelling detectives, and nobody can copy your novel — but you cannot stop someone else writing their own novel about time-travelling detectives. The same applies to methods, procedures, processes, systems and concepts: copyright never extends to them, no matter how they are expressed.

Copyright does not protect facts either. The facts an author discovers through research — historical dates, scientific data, the news of the day — are in the public domain and free for anyone to use. What is protected is the way the author expresses those facts: the words, the structure, the selection and arrangement. Two historians can write about the same events; neither may copy the other’s sentences.

Copyright also does not protect titles, names, slogans, short phrases, methods or ideas. A single title cannot be copyrighted, although it may be protected as a trade mark in some circumstances. And there is no copyright in work that has not been fixed: an improvised speech that is never recorded, or a dance that is never written down or filmed, is not protected as a copyright work.

Who Owns the Copyright?

The starting point is simple: the author of a work owns its copyright. The writer owns the words, the photographer owns the photograph, and the illustrator owns the illustration. If several people create a work together with the intention that their contributions merge into a single work, they own it jointly, and the copyright lasts for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author in the UK and the US.

The main exception is employment. If you create work as an employee under a contract of service — for example, a staff writer producing articles for a magazine — your employer generally owns the copyright. Freelancers are different: a freelance writer or designer usually keeps copyright unless the contract says otherwise, or unless the work is a “work made for hire” under US law. Always read the contract before you start, and if ownership matters to you, negotiate it in writing.

Commissioned work is another trap. Paying someone to create something does not automatically give you the copyright — the creator keeps it unless the agreement transfers it. If you commission a logo, a photograph or a piece of music for your business, make sure the contract says who owns the copyright, or you may find you cannot use the work as widely as you expected. Agreements about commissioned creative work often arise in business contexts, and our guide on software and technology touches on how digital creators handle ownership and licensing.

How Long Does Copyright Last?

For most works created by an identified individual author, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years in both the UK and the US. A novel written by an author who dies in 2026 will generally stay in copyright until the end of 2096. For works made for hire, and for anonymous or pseudonymous works, the US term is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.

Different rules apply to older works, unpublished works and some types of work, so an exact expiry date may need checking. Every copyright term runs through 31 December of its final year, regardless of the anniversary of the author’s death. Once the term expires, the work enters the public domain and anyone can use it freely. Each 1 January, a new batch of works enters the public domain — for example, works published in 1930 entered the public domain in the US on 1 January 2026, and sound recordings from 1925 did the same. You can read the full detail on duration in Wikipedia’s article on copyright.

The Rights Copyright Gives You

Copyright is not one right but a bundle of exclusive rights. As the owner, you control whether and how your work is copied, distributed, performed or displayed in public, adapted — for example, turned into a film or a translation — and made available online. Anyone who wants to use your work in one of these ways needs your permission, unless an exception applies.

You also have moral rights in many countries, including the UK: the right to be identified as the author, and the right to object to derogatory treatment of your work. Moral rights are more limited in the United States, where they apply mainly to visual art. Moral rights can be waived in a contract, and many publishing and commissioning agreements ask creators to waive them — read the small print before signing.

In practice, creators manage these rights through licences. A licence is simply permission to use a work on agreed terms: an exclusive licence gives one person the sole right to use it, while a non-exclusive licence lets the creator license the same work to many people. Licences can cover specific uses, territories and time periods, and they can earn royalties. Photographers licensing stock images and musicians licensing songs for adverts are both using this system. Putting your licences in writing protects both sides.

Fair Use and Fair Dealing: Using Other People’s Work

The most important limits on copyright are the exceptions that let people use protected work without permission. In the United States the key exception is fair use, set out in section 107 of the Copyright Act. It allows limited use without permission for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Courts weigh four factors: the purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial or for non-profit education; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the part used; and the effect of the use on the potential market for the original.

Fair use is a defence, not a guaranteed right, and it is unpredictable. No single factor controls the outcome, and courts have reached conflicting results on similar facts. Listing a purpose such as criticism does not guarantee protection, and using a whole work, or the heart of it, is rarely fair use. Treating fair use as a blanket permission is the fastest way to end up in litigation.

The UK has a narrower system called fair dealing. It covers specific purposes — research and private study, criticism or review, reporting current events, and parody, caricature or pastiche — each with its own limits, and for criticism, review and news reporting the work generally needs sufficient acknowledgement. Australia has a similar fair dealing system, not a broad fair use doctrine. If your work relies heavily on someone else’s material, get permission or advice early, and remember that crediting the author does not by itself make an infringing use lawful. See Wikipedia’s explanation of fair use for the US framework in detail.

The Public Domain and Creative Commons

Work in the public domain can be used freely by anyone, for any purpose, without permission. A work enters the public domain when its copyright expires, when the owner dedicates it to the public domain, or — for some official works — when the law says it cannot be copyrighted. US federal government works, for example, are generally in the public domain.

Creative Commons is different: it is a set of licences that creators use to give advance permission for certain uses of their work. A Creative Commons licence might allow anyone to share and adapt a photograph, provided they credit the photographer and do not use it commercially. Always read the licence terms: a “non-commercial” licence does not permit use in a monetised video, and a “no derivatives” licence does not permit cropping or editing. And beware of “free image” sites — an image found online is not necessarily free to use, whatever a search result suggests. If you cannot find the source or licence, do not use the image.

What to Do If Someone Copies Your Work

If you find your work copied without permission, act methodically. First, gather evidence: screenshots with dates, URLs, and copies of the original work showing when you created it. Second, contact the infringer directly and ask them to remove the work, setting a deadline. A polite but firm takedown request resolves many cases. Third, if the work is hosted on a platform such as YouTube, Instagram or a web host, use its copyright complaint or takedown procedure — in the US this is usually a DMCA takedown notice.

If that fails, the next step is a solicitor’s letter, and ultimately a court claim. In the US, you must register your work with the Copyright Office before you can sue for infringement and seek statutory damages, so registration is wise for professional creators even though protection itself is automatic. Remedies can include an injunction, damages based on your actual loss or the infringer’s profits, and in the US statutory damages for registered works. For the fundamentals of what copyright protects and how long it lasts, see Wikipedia’s guide to the public domain and the copyright article linked above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to register my copyright?

No. Protection is automatic from the moment an original work is fixed in a tangible form — there is no official registration system in the UK. In the US, registration with the Copyright Office is not required for protection, but it is necessary before you can file an infringement lawsuit and seek statutory damages.

Does putting a © symbol on my work protect it?

Copyright exists whether or not you use the symbol. A copyright notice is still useful: it puts people on notice, names the owner, and makes it harder for an infringer to claim the copying was innocent.

Can I use a photo I found on Google Images?

Not without permission, unless the image is in the public domain or licensed for your use. Finding an image online does not mean it is free to use. Use reputable stock libraries, or contact the photographer or rights holder for a licence.

How much of a work can I quote without permission?

There is no fixed safe amount, such as a number of words or a percentage. Fair use and fair dealing both depend on the context: short quotations for criticism or review are the classic example, but quoting the heart of a work, even briefly, can infringe.

Does copyright protect my idea for a book or a film?

No. Copyright protects the expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. An idea becomes protected only once you fix it in a tangible form — as a manuscript, a script, a treatment or a recorded pitch. If the idea is valuable, a non-disclosure agreement is the practical way to protect it while you discuss it with others.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Copyright terms, exceptions and registration rules differ between countries and change over time. If your copyright question involves significant income or a dispute, consult a qualified intellectual property lawyer in your jurisdiction.

David Lawson

David Lawson writes Homeyo's legal guides, explaining everyday legal topics in plain, straightforward language. He has spent years writing about the law for general readers, from wills and contracts to consumer rights. His guides help you understand your options — and when it is time to speak to a solicitor.