Madonna copyright victory – what is the law?

Pop star Madonna today won ‘substantial damages’ over a national newspaper’s infringement of copyright and invasion of privacy.

In 2003 an interior designer was alleged to have copied at least 27 images from Madonna’s private wedding album, supplying them to a third party who then offered them to the Mail on Sunday which published them last year.

But what does UK law state on photographic copyright?

Under UK law, it is the photographer who owns copyright in any photos he/she has taken unless the photographer is an employee of the company the photos are taken for, in which case the company the photographer works for will hold the copyright.

So says the UK Copyright Service which adds: ‘In all other cases the photographer will retain the copyright; if the photographer has been paid for his work, the payment will be for the photographer’s time and typically an allocated number of prints.

‘The copyright to the photos will remain with the photographer, and therefore any reproduction without permission would be an infringement of copyright.’

For more information visit the UK Copyright Service website.