Is material on the internet protected by copyright?

Under UK law copyright material sent over the Internet or stored on web servers will generally be protected in the same way as material in other media. Anyone wishing to put copyright material on the Internet, or distribute or download material that others have placed on the Internet, should ensure that they have the permission of the owners of rights in the material unless copyright exceptions apply.

You should note that the law may be different in other countries so copyright material may have been put on the internet in other countries without infringing copyright there, but it could still be illegal to use, including download that material without permission in the UK.