Copyright

In most countries, copyright is a legal right that protects original works of authorship. Typically, if you create an original work, you have a copyright from the moment you create it. Copyright covers a wide variety of types of works, including:

Please note, only an original work is eligible for copyright protection.

To be original enough for copyright protection, a work needs to be created by the author themselves and have some minimal amount of creativity.

Generally, names, titles, slogans or short phrases aren't considered to be original enough to qualify for copyright protection. For example, the symbol “+” is likely not subject to copyright, but a painting full of shapes and colors arranged in a unique pattern is likely protected by copyright.

Copyright generally doesn’t protect facts or ideas, but it may protect the original words or images that express a fact or idea. This means that you may be able to express the same idea or fact as another author, as long as you don’t copy that author’s way of expressing that idea or fact.

For example, a playwright may not be able to copyright the idea of a man waking up to repeat the same day over and over again, but the script for a play or movie expressing that idea could be subject to copyright.

In general, the person who creates an original work owns the copyright. For example, if you create a painting, you likely own the copyright for that painting. Similarly, if you take a photo, you likely own the copyright for that photo.

There may be situations where you might think you have a copyright in a creative work, but you may not. For example:

If you’re not sure about the extent of your copyright in an original work, you may want to contact an attorney to advise you on your rights.

As a copyright owner, you have certain rights under the law. These include the right to stop others from copying or distributing your work, or from creating new works based on your work. Copyright infringement generally occurs when a person engages in one of these activities without the copyright owner’s permission.

For example, when someone uploads your photo or video, they make a copy of that photo or video. The same is true if someone uses a song in the soundtrack to a video, even if they paid for a copy of that song on another service.

If you own a copyright, you have the right to grant permission to use your copyrighted work, as well as the right to prevent other people from using your copyrighted work without permission.

Copyright protection doesn’t last forever. Eventually, a work loses copyright protection and becomes part of the “public domain.” Once a work is in the public domain, it’s freely available for anyone to use.

A central purpose of copyright law is to encourage people to make creative works. For this reason, the public domain ensures copyright owners obtain certain rights only for a limited amount of time. This balance between copyright law and the public domain gives the author an incentive to create, but also gives other people the ability to use the work without permission after the copyright expires.

There are many factors that determine when a work becomes part of the public domain. Some of these factors include when and where the work was first published, the type of work and the publisher. For example, the Berne Convention, an international treaty about copyright, states that the copyright for most types of works must last at least 50 years after the author’s death. Countries, however, are free to set longer copyright terms within their own laws.

The law in most countries recognizes copyrights as well as trademarks. Copyright law and trademark law serve two different purposes.

Copyright is meant to foster creativity and to provide incentives to create original works of authorship for the benefit of the public. Copyright protects original works like photos, videos, movies and music. It’s also important to note that, in the U.S., the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) applies only to copyrights and doesn’t apply to trademarks.

Trademark law is meant to prevent consumer harm because it prohibits someone other than the rights owner from using a trademark (for example, a brand’s logo) in a way that may confuse consumers. Trademark law protects brand names, slogans, logos or other symbols that help consumers identify the source of goods or services.

Under Facebook's Terms of Use and Instagram's Terms of Use, and our Community Standards you can only post content to these platforms that doesn’t violate someone else's intellectual property rights. The best way to help make sure that what you post to Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram doesn’t violate copyright law is to only post content that you’ve created yourself.

Posting content that facilitates copyright infringement through unauthorized devices or services is also not allowed on Meta platforms.

It's possible to infringe someone else's copyright when you post their content on Meta platforms, or facilitate copyright infringement, even if you:

Before you post content on Instagram, you may want to ask:

It’s generally a good idea to get written permission from the author of the work before posting content on Meta platforms. You might be able to use someone else’s content if you’ve gotten permission from them, such as through obtaining a license. You also may be able to use someone else's content if it's in the public domain, is covered by fair use, or there is another exception to copyright.

Laws across the globe recognize that strict application of copyright laws in certain cases may be unfair or may inappropriately stifle creativity or stop people from creating original works, which would harm the public. These laws allow people to use, under certain circumstances, someone else's copyrighted work. Common examples include use for the purpose of criticism, commentary, parody, satire, news reporting, teaching, education and research.

The United States and some other countries follow the “fair use” doctrine, while other countries, including those in the European Union, provide other exceptions or limitations to copyright. These exceptions or limitations permit users to use copyrighted material where appropriate. You may want to seek legal advice if you have questions about the possibility to use someone else’s copyrighted work within the limits set by the law.

Though it's often difficult to know if a particular use of copyrighted work is a fair use, the law offers some factors you can consider:

To learn more about fair use in the U.S., you can visit the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index.

The application of exceptions and limitations to copyright may vary from country to country. As a general matter, in countries that rely on exceptions and limitations, the use of copyrighted works should not unreasonably harm a rights holder’s interests. In the EU, each Member State must ensure that users are able to rely on the following exceptions when making content available: quotation, criticism, review, caricature, parody or pastiche. To learn more about copyright law in the EU, you can visit the EUIPO website.

It's possible to infringe someone else's copyright, even if you don't intend to do so. In most cases, you shouldn’t use someone else’s copyrighted work if you don’t have permission.

Keep in mind that your use of someone else’s content may infringe their copyright, even if you:

Learn more about copyright and what copyright laws protect. If we remove content you posted because of an intellectual property report submitted through our online form, you’ll receive a notification from Facebook or Instagram that may include the name and email address of the rights owner who made the report and/or other details of the report. If you believe the content shouldn't have been removed, you can follow up with the rights owner directly to try to resolve the issue.

If you don't see an email from us regarding the removal, please make sure that you are checking the email address that is associated with your Facebook or Instagram account. You can find your primary address under your account settings. If you still have not received an email from us, you also may want to review your Facebook or Instagram notification settings as well as your email's spam folder.

If you believe content on Facebook or Instagram is infringing on your copyright, you can take one or more of the following actions:

Please note:

Before you submit a report, please consider whether the content you want to report may be a permissible use of your copyright or your trademark. If you’re not sure whether the content you’re reporting infringes your intellectual property rights, because it may be a fair use or otherwise, you may want to seek legal guidance.

Please note that submitting a report of intellectual property infringement is a serious matter with potential legal consequences. Intentionally submitting misleading or otherwise fraudulent reports of copyright or trademark infringement may lead to Facebook taking action, including termination of your account.

For copyright, it’s important to note that intentionally submitting a misleading or fraudulent report may also lead to liability for damages under section 512(f) of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) or similar laws in other countries.

Only an intellectual property rights owner or their authorized representative may report a suspected infringement. If you believe content on Instagram infringes someone else’s copyright or trademark rights, you may want to let the rights owner know.

The fastest and easiest way to send a DMCA report of copyright infringement to our designated agent is to fill out our online form.

If you wish to reach our designated agent through other (and slower) methods, you can contact:

Please keep in mind that if you submit a report to our designated agent by any means other than through our online form, you must include a complete copyright claim.

When we receive a report from a rights owner claiming that content you posted on Facebook or Instagram infringes their intellectual property rights, we may need to promptly remove that content from Facebook without contacting you first.

If we remove content you posted because of an intellectual property report submitted through our online form, you’ll receive a notification from Meta that may include the name and email address of the rights owner who made the report and/or other details of the report. If you believe the content shouldn’t have been removed, you can follow up with the rights owner directly to try to resolve the issue.

If you're an admin on a Page, and content another admin posted on the Page was removed due to an intellectual property report, you'll receive a notification with information about the content that was removed, as well as the name of the other admin who posted it.

If content you posted in a group was removed due to an intellectual property report, the group admins will also be notified of the removal and the identity of the group member who posted the content that was removed

If your content was removed because of a copyright report, you can submit an appeal. You'll receive instructions about how to appeal in the message we send you. Similarly, if the content was removed under the notice and counter-notice procedures of the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), you may be able to file a DMCA counter-notification. Again, instructions will be available for you in the message we send you. Learn more about our appeals process.

Group admins will be notified about content removed from their group due to intellectual property violations, but only the person who posted it will be able to submit an appeal.

If you repeatedly post content that infringes someone else’s intellectual property rights, such as copyrights or trademarks, your account may be disabled or your Page removed under Instagram's repeat infringer policy.

Under this policy, your ability to post photos or videos may be limited, and you could also lose access to certain features or functionality on Instagram. The actions taken under the policy may depend on the nature of the reported content and where it was posted.

If something you posted is restored due to an appeal or because a rights owner withdrew their report, we’ll take that restoration into account under our repeat infringer policy.

Learn more about what you can do if you believe your account was disabled by Instagram or Facebook by mistake.