How Long Does Copyright Last for Photos?

How long copyright lasts for photos is one of the questions that seems simple on the surface, but they get deeper in a flash. In the United States, copyright on a photo taken today lasts for the life of the photographer plus 70 years. For works made for hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous photos, it’s 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. The UK and EU use the same core “life plus 70” rule. So, so most photos stay protected for decades after their creator dies.

But that’s the short answer. The details depend on who took the photo, when, and where. So, in this article, we bring you the bigger picture, and we’ll try to answer the most common questions.

How Long Does Copyright Last on Photos in the US?

For any photo created on or after January 1, 1978, the rule is simple: copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years after their death. A photographer owns the copyright the instant the shutter clicks – no registration required – and it runs until 70 years after they die, at which point the image enters the public domain.

If a photo has two or more creators who weren’t working for hire, the clock runs from the death of the last surviving author, plus 70 years.

A useful thing to know: registering a copyright doesn’t change its duration. Registered and unregistered photos are protected for the exact same term. Registration just gives you a stronger legal footing if you ever have to enforce it.

[Related Reading: Best Practices To Protect Your Photography Copyright and Pursue Infringement]

What About Work-for-Hire and Studio Photos?

If a photo is a “work made for hire” – most commonly, one shot by an employee as part of their job – the employer, not the individual, holds the copyright, and the term is calculated differently. For works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works, copyright lasts 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. (source)

So a brand’s product photos shot in-house in 2025 and published the same year would stay protected until 2120.

When Do Older US Photos Enter the Public Domain?

Photos published before 1978 follow older, messier rules involving copyright notices and renewals, so this is something to check case by case. But there’s one clean bright line worth knowing: the public domain grows every January 1.

As of 2026, all works published in the US in 1930 or earlier are in the public domain. Older published works ran on a system of a 28-year term plus a renewal, extended to a total of 95 years for those properly renewed. That 95-year window is why the cutoff advances one year each January – in 2027 it’ll be 1931, and so on. Anything older than that line is free to use; anything newer needs checking.

[Related Reading: What Happens to Your Photos After You Die?]

How Long Does Copyright Last on Photos in the UK?

The UK treats photographs as “artistic works,” and the term matches the US default. Copyright in a photo lasts until 70 years after the end of the year in which the creator died, after which it enters the public domain on the following January 1.

So to work out a UK photo: take the year the photographer died, add 70, and the image is free from the start of the next year. A photo by a photographer who died in 1954, for example, came out of copyright at the end of 2024 and became free to use from January 1, 2025.

When the photographer is unknown, a different rule applies: copyright generally runs for 70 years from the end of the year the work was made, or 70 years from when it was first made available to the public, if that happened in the meantime. Photos from before the mid-20th century can carry extra transitional quirks, so treat very old or unattributed images with caution.

How Long Does Copyright Last on Photos in the EU?

The EU harmonized its rules under the Copyright Term Directive. Across the UK, the US, most of Europe, and Australia, the term is the life of the author plus 70 years. So, this rule is the easiest and safest to remember.

There’s one quirk that doesn’t exist in the US, though. EU law distinguishes a photographic work from a plain, non-original snapshot. “A photographic work” is an original image that reflects the photographer’s own creative choices. Photographic works get the full life-plus-70 treatment. Some member states give simple, non-creative photos a shorter “related right” instead. For example, Germany’s protection for basic Lichtbilder (50 years instead of 70). This means that the floor can vary country to country, even though the creative work term is standard. This is why it’s always worth double-checking!

How to Work Out If a Photo Is Still Protected

It’s easy to get lost in the numbers, so here’s a quick mental checklist:

• Modern photo, known photographer who’s still alive or recently died? Almost certainly still under copyright. Assume it’s protected.
• Individually created photo? Find the year the photographer died, add 70, and it’s free from January 1 after that.
• Work for hire/corporate/anonymous (US)? Use 95 years from publication or 120 from creation.
• Published in the US in 1930 or earlier? Public domain.
• Old, unattributed, or pre-1950s? Tread carefully – this is where the special rules live, and “I found it online” is not a copyright status.

When you genuinely can’t tell, the safe assumption is that a photo is protected. The absence of a credit or watermark doesn’t mean the absence of copyright.

A Note Before You Rely on This

Copyright duration is one of the fiddlier corners of the law, and the rules shift around older works, unknown authors, and country borders. This is a general guide, not legal advice – if real money or a real risk is riding on whether a specific image is free to use, it’s worth confirming with the relevant copyright office or a lawyer who handles IP.

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