What is copyright, and do I own my photos?

Most owners of small businesses ask the same question about a photo: “Is this mine to use?” This page gives you the plain answers. Each legal point links to the law itself, so you can read the words yourself.

Copyright starts when you make the work

Copyright is the right to say who may copy and share a piece of work. A photograph is one of the kinds of work the law protects. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 names a photograph as an artistic work.

You do not need to register it or pay a fee. GOV.UK says that you get copyright protection automatically, and that there is no register of copyright works in the UK. The picture must be your own original work.

Who owns a photo or a piece of art

• The maker. The Act says the author is the person who creates the work, and the author is the first owner of the copyright.
• An employee’s work belongs to the employer. If an employee makes a photo in the course of the job, the employer is the first owner, unless an agreement says otherwise.
• A commission belongs to the maker unless the contract says otherwise. The Act has no rule that gives the person who pays for a photo its copyright. So the maker stays the first owner. To pass the copyright to someone else, the law needs a written assignment signed by the owner. A client may still have permission to use the picture. What that permission covers depends on what you agreed, so write it down.

Two practical points follow. If you hired a photographer for your shop, ask what you may do with the pictures. If a friend took them for you, ask the same question.

What a licence is

A licence is permission from the owner. Without it, copying or sharing a work is an infringement unless a legal exception applies.

• A non-exclusive licence lets you use the work. The owner can give the same permission to other people too.
• An exclusive licence is stricter. The Act says it must be in writing, signed by or for the owner, and must let the licensee do the thing to the exclusion of all other people, the owner included.

A licence says what you may do, for how long, and where. Keep it with the photo. License or sell my photos to others explains the other direction, when you want to let people use your photos.

Credit lines, and the right to be named

A credit line is the “Photo: Jane Smith” you see beside a picture. A licence may require one. That is a term of the deal.

Separately, the law gives the maker a “moral right” to be named as the author when an artistic work is exhibited in public or published commercially. The important detail is this: the right is not infringed unless it has been asserted. A maker asserts it in a signed written statement, or in the contract that transfers the copyright. For public exhibition of an artwork, the Act also lets the maker assert it by being named on the work when it leaves the maker’s hands, or in a signed statement in a licence. An employee’s right does not apply to what the employer does with the work, under the exceptions.

So a name on a web page is good practice, but it is not the same thing as asserting the right. If being named matters to you, say so in writing in your agreements.

How long copyright lasts

For most photographs and artworks, copyright lasts until 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which the author dies. GOV.UK gives the same period for artistic work. Some kinds of work and some older works follow other rules, so check before you rely on the date for a very old picture.

“All rights reserved” and the copyright line

A line such as “© 2026 Jane Smith. All rights reserved.” tells people who to ask. It does not create the copyright. GOV.UK says that whether you mark the work or not does not affect the level of protection. So the line helps people find you, and leaving it off does not lose your rights. It also does not stop anyone copying the picture. It states your claim.

Before you use someone else’s photo

Finding a photo online does not make it free to use. Copyright starts automatically, so most pictures you find belong to someone. Ask first, or use a picture with a licence that covers what you want to do. Then keep a note of who gave permission and on what terms. Am I allowed to use this photo? shows how to keep that note with the photo.

How bernard helps

bernard cannot decide who owns a photo. You know that, and bernard does not. What bernard does is keep your answer with the photo.

• Photos you add start as “rights unknown”. So do photos brought in from an old site. bernard shows you how many there are and goes through them with you.
• bernard never assumes a licence. A photo stays “rights unknown” until you say otherwise. bernard writes your name and copyright line into a picture file only for a photo you have marked as yours. See Does Bernard keep my name on my photos?.
• Coming soon, the media library will ask one question about each photo. The four answers will be Mine, Licensed, Stock and From a client. There will also be Not sure yet. These answers are being built now, so you may not see them yet.

To read more, see Do you own the photos on your website? and Licences, credit lines and “all rights reserved”: what they really do. If someone has copied your work, see Someone copied my photo. How do I show it is mine? and Someone copied my work. How do I prove it is mine?.

For how bernard protects your work from copying and from AI, see What do ‘digital rights’ and ‘DRM’ mean for my site?.