Using Photos for Cross Stitch: the Copyright Rules

This question comes up constantly, usually in a slightly anxious form: I found a beautiful photo online, can I stitch it? Or: I made a chart of my neighbor's dog and she wants to buy one, is that a problem?

The honest answer is that copyright is more restrictive than most stitchers expect, less enforced than it is restrictive, and genuinely different depending on where you live. What follows is a plain-English tour of what the US Copyright Office and the UK government actually publish, with links so you can read the sources yourself.

The one-minute version

How copyright works, in two paragraphs

In the United States, the Copyright Office states that "Copyright exists automatically in an original work of authorship once it is fixed," and that registration is voluntary — though for US works, registration is necessary before you can enforce those rights in court. The owner holds several exclusive rights, including the rights to reproduce the work, to prepare derivative works based upon it, and to distribute copies to the public by sale.

In the United Kingdom, GOV.UK is blunter still: "You get copyright protection automatically - you do not have to apply or pay a fee," and "There is not a register of copyright works in the UK." Protection covers original artistic work, including illustration and photography, and stops others copying the work or distributing copies of it, "whether free of charge or for sale."

Two consequences follow, and they are the ones stitchers most often get wrong. A photograph does not need a copyright notice, a watermark or a registration to be protected. And "I found it on the internet" describes where you found it, not what you are allowed to do with it.

A chart made from a photo is a derivative work

This is the concept that makes cross stitch a copyright question at all.

US law defines a derivative work as "a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted" (17 U.S.C. § 101).

Converting a photograph into a grid of symbols is recasting it into another form. It is not a new work that happens to resemble the photo; it is the photo, described differently. And preparing derivative works is one of the exclusive rights reserved to the copyright owner under § 106.

There is a useful corollary in § 103(b): "The copyright in a compilation or derivative work extends only to the material contributed by the author of such work, as distinguished from the preexisting material employed in the work." So even where you legitimately make a chart from someone else's image under license, your rights cover your contribution — not the underlying photograph.

Your own photograph

This is the easy case, and it is why photo patterns from your own camera roll are the safest possible project.

You took the photo, so you own the copyright in it. You can make a chart from it, stitch it, hang it, give it away, sell the finished piece, and sell the chart. Nobody's permission is required.

Two caveats worth knowing:

• What is in the photo can carry its own rights. A photo of your child holding a licensed plush toy contains someone else's protected design. A photo of your living room may include a poster on the wall.
• Privacy is a separate question from copyright. Owning a photograph of a recognizable person does not settle every question about publishing it commercially. That is a different body of law again, and it varies widely.

Someone else's photograph

Every route to "someone else's photo" ends in the same place: you need permission, and permission means a license, ideally in writing.

The case that surprises people most is the professional photograph of themselves. GOV.UK's guidance on ownership is explicit that "the first legal owner of copyright is the person or organization that created the work and not you the commissioner, unless you otherwise agree it in writing." Your wedding album, your graduation portrait, the studio session with the dog: unless your contract assigned copyright to you, those images belong to the photographer.

That is not a reason to give up — it is a reason to ask. Most photographers are perfectly happy to license an image for a one-off stitched piece, and many are delighted by the idea. Ask in writing, say exactly what you intend to do, and keep the reply.

Characters, artworks and things inside photographs

A photograph can contain protected material that has nothing to do with the photographer.

Licensed characters are the clearest case. A character from a film, a game or a comic is protected expression, and the names and logos attached to it are usually registered trademarks as well — the Copyright Office describes a trademark as protecting "words, phrases, symbols, or designs identifying the source of the goods or services of one party" (Copyright Office FAQ). Rights holders in this space are well resourced and active. We do not generate or sell character patterns, and we would not advise anyone to sell them.

Contemporary artworks — a painting, an illustration, a mural, a sculpture — are protected in their own right, so a photograph of one carries two layers of rights. Some countries have a "freedom of panorama" exception for artworks permanently sited in public places; others do not, and the scope differs considerably. Check the rules where you are.

Older artworks may be out of copyright altogether. Terms are long, though: GOV.UK puts UK literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works at 70 years after the author's death, and the US Copyright Office puts works created from 1978 onward at life plus 70 years, with works made for hire at 95 years from publication or 120 from creation, whichever expires first. Older still and terms depend on publication history.

One extra wrinkle on old art: even when a painting itself is free of copyright, the museum's photograph of it usually arrives with license terms attached, and whether those terms bind you is as much a question about the contract you accepted when you downloaded the file as about copyright. Read the page you got the image from.

What changes when money is involved

Stitchers often assume there is a bright line between "for myself" and "for sale". There is a line, but it is not where people think it is.

Personal use is not a blanket exception. In the US, fair use is a defence weighed case by case against four factors: the purpose and character of the use including whether it is commercial, the nature of the work, the amount used, and the effect on the potential market for the original. The Copyright Office is clear that "there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work... may be used without permission," and that "In cases of doubt, the Copyright Office recommends that permission be obtained."

In the UK the equivalent is fair dealing, and the listed exceptions are narrow and specific: non-commercial research and private study, criticism and review with acknowledgement, parody, accessibility. Government guidance notes that copying a whole work would not generally be considered fair dealing. There is no general "it's just for me" exception in either system.

Selling raises the stakes in three ways. It makes the use commercial, which weighs against you under the first US factor. It engages the distribution right directly. And it makes you visible — most enforcement starts with a rights holder finding a listing.

Selling the chart is a bigger step than selling the piece. A single stitched piece is one object. A chart is a reproducible copy of a derivative work that lets anyone else make more, and it competes with the market the rights holder might serve themselves. If you are going to be careful about one thing, be careful about that one; selling cross stitch patterns and copyright goes through the cases.

Getting permission

It is less daunting than it sounds, and a short, specific email works better than a vague one.

• Identify the image precisely: where you saw it, when, and any reference number.
• Say what you want to do. "Convert it into a cross stitch chart and stitch one piece for my own wall" is a very different request from "sell charts based on it."
• Say whether money is involved, honestly, up front.
• Ask for a written reply and keep it with the project.
• Accept a no gracefully. There are other photographs.

For stock and Creative Commons images, the license is the answer — but read it rather than assuming. The questions that matter are whether it permits derivative works, whether it permits commercial use, and whether attribution is required.

Where we stand

We build a tool that turns a photo you upload into a chart. We cannot tell whose photograph it is, so the responsibility for having the right to use an image sits with whoever uploads it. We do not create patterns of licensed characters, and we would rather you stitched your own dog anyway — it makes a better piece.

The safest possible starting point is the one already in your pocket: a photograph you took. Upload one and the preview is free; the printable PDF is $5.99, or $7.99 a month for unlimited patterns plus a ready-made pattern library you can stitch from straight away. How to turn a photo into a cross stitch pattern covers the process, choosing the best photos covers what converts well, and cross stitching a pet portrait from a photo covers the subject people ask for most.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make a cross stitch pattern from my own photo?

If you took the photo yourself and it does not contain someone else's protected artwork or a licensed character, you are the copyright owner and you can chart it, stitch it, and sell what you make. Photos you took at a wedding you attended are yours; photos the wedding photographer took are not.

Can I cross stitch a photo I found on the internet?

Not without permission. Copyright protection is automatic in both the US and the UK, so a photo being freely visible online says nothing about whether you may use it. Turning it into a chart is making a derivative work, which is one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights.

Is it legal to stitch a copyrighted character just for myself?

This is general information rather than legal advice, and the answer is not a clean yes. Neither US fair use nor UK fair dealing contains a blanket personal-use permission, and both are decided case by case. What is clear is that selling the finished piece or the chart is a different and much riskier question.

Who owns the copyright in a photo of me taken by a photographer?

In the UK, the creator is normally the first owner, and government guidance states the commissioner is not the owner unless agreed in writing. So the studio that photographed your wedding usually owns those images, not you. Ask about a license before charting them.

Can I sell cross stitch patterns I make from photographs?

You can sell charts made from photographs you own the rights to. Selling charts made from someone else's photograph, or from a licensed character, means distributing copies of a derivative work, which is squarely within the rights the copyright owner holds.

How long does copyright last on a photograph?

In the UK, artistic works including photographs are protected for 70 years after the author's death. In the US, works created from 1978 onward last for the life of the author plus 70 years, and works made for hire last 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first.

Sources

• US Copyright Office — What is Copyright? (automatic protection, registration, exclusive rights)
• US Copyright Office — 17 U.S.C. Chapter 1 (§ 101 derivative work, § 103(b), § 106 exclusive rights)
• US Copyright Office — Fair Use Index (the four factors; no formula; case-by-case)
• US Copyright Office — Fair use FAQ (no safe percentage; permission recommended in doubt)
• US Copyright Office — How long does copyright protection last?
• US Copyright Office — General FAQ (copyright compared with trademark)
• GOV.UK — Copyright (automatic protection, no UK register, what is covered)
• GOV.UK — How long copyright lasts
• GOV.UK — Ownership of copyright works (commissioned works and photographs)
• GOV.UK — Exceptions to copyright (fair dealing, private study, parody)