Question
Is a mugshot copyrighted? For example, if my news agency were to take a mugshot that was posted on a competitor’s website… is that copyright infringement?
Answer
All photographs are protected by copyright except photographs created by the US government. So, technically, mugshots from local law enforcement are copyrighted.
In addition, the competitor has a copyright in its website. Taking content from the competitor’s website could be copyright infringement.
Finally, there is a doctrine of “hot news misappropriation,” under which taking content from a competitor may result in liability under state law (for misappropriation of your competitor’s content) in addition to or instead of copyright infringement.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.