About copyright registration

Copyright registration may perhaps be best thought of as insurance in case your work is used without permission. In the event of an infringement, proving copyright can be a contentious matter. The independent witnessing service provided by UKCS gives strong independent evidence of date and content of the work, helping you to prove ownership of the work.

The registration deposit creates an independently verifiable dated version of your work, which acts as compelling evidence if you ever need proof of your copyright claim.

Everyone who registers work is given a personal account number. Each work is given a unique code identifying it as the authors work, and information about the work is stored against the account. The author then receives a certificate as proof of registration.

An entry in our archive is evidence of ownership, and can assist in the event of a dispute. Our staff ensure that a securely encrypted copy of your work is stored in geographically separate archive facilities, and our policies of data protection, backup and contingency planning ensure that your work remains safe and secure for the duration of the registration.

In the event of a dispute, the UK Copyright Service can act as impartial independent witness, providing evidence as to the authenticity of the claim.

We can verify when the work was registered, firstly by means of the certificate, and after written instruction UKCS can produce copies of the work as proof of originality and content. These can be sent directly to any address specified; this may be a solicitor, or the judge/tribunal dealing with the case.

Any original literary, design, musical or artistic works can be registered.

This includes: Web sites, advertisements, computer programs, manuscripts and; synopsis, photography, logos, musical works and sound recordings, commercial documents, periodicals, games, etc. Here is a more complete list of work suitable for registration.

Any work which has potential financial value should certainly be registered.

Not sure whether to register? Our assessment pages will help you to make an informed choice.

More information about registering your work can be found on or fact sheet P-04 Registering Copyright.