Websites, apps, photos, videos and other online content are protected by copyright from the moment they are created, without registration, as long as they are original. Spanish law expressly covers creations expressed “by any means or medium, tangible or intangible”, and even non-original photos get a shorter right of their own. Effective digital copyright protection, however, depends less on the law than on what you can prove: who created each asset, when, and on what terms you hold it. This guide is for companies whose value sits in digital content and software.
Key takeaways
- Copyright arises automatically on creation; in Spain registration is optional but creates a presumption of ownership.
- Product photos that are not original works are still protected for 25 years as “mere photographs” (art. 128 TRLPI).
- Code, interfaces, text, images, video and databases each follow slightly different rules.
- Most disputes are lost on evidence and ownership, not on the law: keep an inventory, dated proof and written assignments.
- Online infringements can be tackled with platform notices and, if needed, court action for cessation and damages.
What does digital copyright protect?
Under Spain’s Consolidated Intellectual Property Law (TRLPI), all original literary, artistic or scientific creations are protected “by any means or medium, tangible or intangible, currently known or invented in the future” (art. 10). The list includes texts, audiovisual works, drawings and graphic works, photographic works and computer programs. At international level, the Berne Convention requires that protection must not depend on any formality.
| Digital asset | How it is protected | Term in Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Website text, articles, product descriptions | Literary work, if original (art. 10) | Life of the author plus 70 years (art. 26) |
| Web and app design, graphic user interface | Work, if it is the author’s own intellectual creation (CJEU, C-393/09) | Life plus 70 years |
| Source and object code, technical documentation | Computer program, if original (arts. 96-97) | Life plus 70 years; 70 years from disclosure if the author is a legal person (art. 98) |
| Creative photographs and video | Photographic or audiovisual work (art. 10) | Life plus 70 years |
| Simple product or event photos | “Mere photograph” related right (art. 128) | 25 years from 1 January after the photo was taken |
| Catalogues and datasets | Copyright in structure (art. 12) and sui generis right (art. 133) | Life plus 70 years / 15 years |
Some things are not protected by copyright at all: ideas, functionality, the principles behind software interfaces (art. 96.4), domain names and brand names. Names and logos used as brands need trademark registration, and domains have their own dispute procedures.
Websites and apps: three layers to protect
A website or app is a bundle of works. The code is protected as a computer program, provided it is original (art. 96.2), and the protection extends to successive versions. The visual interface is not a computer program, but the CJEU held in BSA v Ministry of Culture (C-393/09, 22 December 2010) that it can be protected by copyright as a work if it is its author’s own intellectual creation. The content, such as texts, images, videos and databases, is protected separately, and often belongs to different people.
Ownership is where most problems start. In Spain, software created by an employee in the course of their duties belongs to the employer unless agreed otherwise (art. 97.4), but there is no equivalent rule for freelance developers or agencies, whose assignments must be in writing (art. 45). If an agency built your platform, check that the contract assigns the code, the design and the content, including source files.
Photos online: works and “mere photographs”
A photograph with creative choices is a photographic work and is protected for the author’s life plus 70 years. A photo without that originality, such as a standard packshot, is still protected as a “mere photograph”: the person who takes it holds the exclusive right to authorise its reproduction, distribution and public communication for 25 years from 1 January of the year after it was taken (art. 128 TRLPI). In practice, this means that almost every image on your site, or copied from a competitor’s, has an owner.
Two consequences matter for e-commerce. First, your product photographer holds those rights unless they are transferred in writing. Second, using an image found online without a licence is a risk even when it looks generic.
How to put digital copyright protection into practice
Our recommendation is a four-step routine, proportionate to the value of each asset.
1. Keep an inventory of digital assets
- Asset and version: site, app, code repository, photo bank, video channel, dataset.
- Author and status: employee, freelancer, agency or third party.
- Title: employment contract, written assignment or licence, with term and territory.
- Third-party elements: stock images, fonts, music, open source components.
- Where it is published and in which markets.
2. Secure dated proof of authorship
The person named on the work is presumed to be its author (art. 6). The © symbol with the name of the right holder, place and year of first publication signals that rights are reserved (art. 146). Registration with the Intellectual Property Registry creates a presumption that the registered rights exist and belong to the holder (art. 145). Notarial deposits and qualified electronic time stamps are alternatives: under the eIDAS Regulation, a qualified time stamp enjoys a presumption of the accuracy of its date and time and of the integrity of the data (Regulation (EU) No 910/2014, art. 41). Keep the source files and their metadata too.
3. Align ownership and licences
Collect written assignments from freelancers and agencies, check employment contracts, and keep the licences for every third-party element. Publish terms of use that state what visitors may and may not do with your content.
4. Monitor and enforce
Under the EU Digital Services Act, hosting providers must offer notice mechanisms that accept sufficiently precise and adequately substantiated notices, including the exact URL (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, art. 16). If a notice is not enough, Spanish law lets the right holder seek cessation of the infringement, including measures against intermediaries whose services are used to infringe, and damages that can include investigation costs (arts. 138-140 TRLPI). The damages action is time-barred five years after it could have been brought (art. 140.3).
What this means for your business
- Treat digital content as an asset class: a register, an owner per asset and a review when you launch in a new market.
- Fix ownership before you need it: before a funding round, a sale or a dispute, buyers and courts will ask for the chain of documents.
- Register selectively: key software, flagship designs and content you expect to enforce are the usual candidates.
- In Latin America and Africa, protection under Berne is also automatic, but national registries can make evidence and enforcement easier.
Our team for digital copyright protection for websites, software and online content can build the inventory, close ownership gaps and set up evidence and monitoring across your markets.
Where companies get digital copyright wrong
- Assuming the agency’s work is yours. Without a written assignment covering code, design and content, it may not be.
- No dated evidence. Screenshots taken after a dispute starts are weak; contemporaneous records are not.
- Ignoring third-party licences. One unlicensed font, stock image or open source component can taint a whole product.
- Treating packshots as free. “Mere photographs” are protected for 25 years.
- Sending vague notices. Platforms act faster on precise, substantiated notices; our IP enforcement team prepares them and handles any court follow-up.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to register my website or app to protect it?
No. Copyright arises automatically when an original work is created, and the Berne Convention prohibits making protection depend on formalities. Registration in Spain is optional, but it creates a presumption that the registered rights exist and belong to the holder, which shifts the burden of proof in a dispute. It is most useful for key software and content you expect to enforce.
Are simple product photos protected by copyright?
In Spain, yes, even when they are not original. Article 128 TRLPI gives the person who takes a “mere photograph” the exclusive right to authorise its reproduction, distribution and public communication for 25 years from 1 January of the year after it was taken. Original photographic works are protected for the author’s life plus 70 years.
How can I prove the date of my digital content?
Common options are registration with the Intellectual Property Registry, a notarial deposit and a qualified electronic time stamp, which under article 41 of the eIDAS Regulation enjoys a presumption of the accuracy of its date and time across the EU. Keeping source files, version history and metadata adds supporting evidence.
Can IP Global Guard protect our digital content in several countries?
Yes. We audit your digital assets, close ownership gaps with written assignments and licences, handle registrations where they add value and coordinate notices and enforcement across Europe, Latin America and Africa, working with qualified local correspondents where national steps are needed. You deal with a single team.
How IP Global Guard can help protect your digital assets
IP Global Guard, the intellectual property services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, protects software, websites, photos and online content for companies operating in more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa, with one strategy, one point of contact and one billing relationship; see our coverage by country.
Send us a list of your key digital assets and the markets where you use them. We will tell you what is protected, what evidence is missing and which steps are worth taking first. Get in touch with our copyright team.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace an assessment of your specific case.
Sources
- BOE, Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, Consolidated Intellectual Property Law, arts. 6, 10, 12, 26, 45, 96-98, 128, 133, 138-140 and 145-146 (consolidated text, last update 30 March 2022)
- WIPO, Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886)
- CJEU, Case C-393/09, Bezpečnostní softwarová asociace v Ministerstvo kultury (22 December 2010)
- Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 (eIDAS), article 41 (23 July 2014)
- Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), article 16 (19 October 2022)
