For Creators & Rights Owners
We stop unauthorised copying, secure the evidence and pursue injunctions, damages and takedowns, including where your work appears in AI outputs.
Copyright · AI Content · Online Infringement · Defence
Copyright Dispute Lawyers
Enforcing and defending copyright, including disputes over AI training and AI-generated content.
We act for creators, rights owners and businesses when work is copied, scraped, reproduced by AI or misused online, and for those facing a claim, drawing on over 25 years' experience in copyright and digital media law.
Copyright Disputes in the Age of AI
Every client partnership at PAIL Solicitors reflects decades of hands-on experience, informed judgement and proactive guidance. Copyright disputes now range from copied websites and catalogues to AI systems trained on, or reproducing, protected work. We help you understand where you stand and act quickly.
For Businesses Accused
We test the claim, the ownership of the work and the available defences, and resolve the dispute with the least disruption to your business.
For AI Developers & Users
We advise on training data, licensing and output risk, and act when a dispute arises over content created with or by AI tools.
Copyright & AI Content Dispute Services
Enforcing Your Copyright
Copyright is infringed by copying the whole or a substantial part of a work, issuing copies to the public, or communicating it online without permission, under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Dealing in or importing infringing copies can also be secondary infringement.
We act on cease and desist letters, website and content takedowns, and court proceedings for injunctions, damages or an account of profits, and the delivery up of infringing copies.
Defending a Claim
Accused of infringement? Defences include independent creation, that no substantial part was taken, that you had a licence, and fair dealing for purposes such as criticism, review, quotation, news reporting, or parody, caricature and pastiche. We also examine whether the claimant actually owns the work.
AI Training & Scraping
UK law has no general exception allowing commercial AI training on copyright works; the text and data mining exception covers non-commercial research only. Scraping or copying works in the UK to train a model without a licence can therefore infringe.
We act for rights owners whose content has been scraped or used in training, and advise developers on licensing and the provenance of their datasets.
AI-Generated Content
AI outputs that reproduce a substantial part of a protected work can infringe, whoever pressed the button. We advise on claims over AI-generated images, text, music and video, on who owns AI-assisted content, and on the contract terms that allocate that risk.
Where AI is used to create fake or intimate images of real people, copyright is only one route. We also use privacy, data protection and platform reporting.
Online & Cross-Border
Global disputes need global solutions. We escalate takedowns with platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, pursue hosts and service providers, and coordinate enforcement where the infringer or the server is overseas.
Settlement & Licensing
Many disputes end commercially. We negotiate settlements, royalty and licence terms, and resolve co-authorship and ownership disputes, so the outcome protects your revenue as well as your rights.
For businesses, we also carry out copyright risk reviews and audits before disputes arise.
Copyright Disputes We Have Handled
Cornices Centre Limited v Fibrous Plasters Limited and Others
We represented the claimant in a High Court copyright dispute concerning an online catalogue of products.
ReAgent Chemical Services Limited v R & D Laboratories Ltd
We represented the claimant in a website copyright dispute in the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court.
Unlicensed Use of Music
We secured a six-figure settlement for a client whose music was used without permission.
How a Copyright Dispute Runs
Five Stages
- 01 · AssessConfirm ownership, what was copied and the strength of any defence
- 02 · EvidenceCapture pages, files, dates and, for AI matters, prompts and outputs
- 03 · Letter of ClaimA pre-action letter setting out the claim and the remedies sought
- 04 · ResolveNegotiation, mediation, takedowns or a licence and settlement
- 05 · ProceedProceedings in the High Court or the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court
AI & Copyright: Where the Law Stands
In Getty Images v Stability AI [2025] EWHC 2863 (Ch), the High Court held that a trained AI model that does not store the works it learned from is not an "infringing copy", and found only limited trade mark infringement. Getty was granted permission to appeal.
In March 2026, the government's Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence confirmed there will be no immediate change to the law: the proposed opt-out exception for AI training is no longer its preferred option. For now, licensing and the existing rules decide most AI disputes.
The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court caps damages at £500,000 and recoverable costs at £60,000, and its small claims track handles claims up to £10,000.
Intellectual Property Law Since 1999
25+ Years' Experience
Internet, media and IP law since 1999
Published Author
A Practical Guide to Business, Law & the Internet (Kogan Page, 2002)
International Speaker
MBL Seminars speaker on IP and media law
SRA Regulated
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (No. 827265)
Copyright Disputes Explained
Guides on related disputes and protecting your brand online.
Related Services
Our copyright disputes service is part of our wider intellectual property disputes service.
Copyright Dispute Questions
What counts as copyright infringement?
Doing any act restricted by copyright without permission, such as copying the whole or a substantial part of a work, issuing copies to the public or making it available online. Importing, selling or otherwise dealing with copies you know or have reason to believe are infringing can be secondary infringement.
What should I do if I receive a copyright infringement notice?
Take it seriously and do not ignore any deadline. Review what is claimed, keep the material concerned, and get advice before replying. Options include challenging the claim, negotiating a licence or settlement, or preparing a defence.
Can I sue if an AI company used my work to train its model?
Possibly. UK law has no general exception for commercial AI training, so copying works in the UK to train a model without a licence can infringe. Where training took place abroad, as in Getty Images v Stability AI, a UK claim is harder, and that case is under appeal. Evidence of what was used, and where, is key.
Who is liable if AI-generated content copies my work?
An AI output that reproduces a substantial part of a protected work can infringe. Depending on the facts, liability may fall on the person who generated and published the content, the business using it, or the provider of the tool. Contract terms often decide who bears the risk between the parties.
Who owns AI-generated content?
UK law currently gives computer-generated works with no human author a 50-year copyright owned by the person who made the arrangements for their creation. The government has proposed removing that protection while keeping protection for AI-assisted works with real human creativity, so ownership should be addressed expressly in contracts.
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