General orientation, not legal advice. Rules differ by jurisdiction; "fair use" (US) and "fair dealing" (UK, Canada, Australia and others) are related but not identical, and the latter is generally narrower.

The Starting Point

A screenshot reproduces whatever is on the screen — an interface, a website, an article, a video frame, artwork, a photograph. Each of those may be protected by copyright, and taking a screenshot is making a copy.

So the correct framing is not "are screenshots copyrighted" but "is this particular use of this particular content permitted".

Uses That Are Usually Fine

  • Criticism, review and commentary. Showing a product's interface while discussing it is a core fair use / fair dealing purpose. Use no more than needed and make the commentary substantive.
  • News reporting.
  • Education and research, within the limits your jurisdiction allows.
  • Technical documentation and support, including internal documentation of your own systems.
  • Bug reports and troubleshooting.
  • Your own content. Screenshots of your own software, your own site or your own documents are yours.

Uses That Are Risky

  • Marketing that uses a competitor's interface in ways implying endorsement, or comparative advertising that goes beyond what's permitted locally.
  • Reproducing substantial content: screenshotting a full paywalled article, an entire comic page, or a substantial part of a book defeats the "amount used" factor.
  • Screenshots as the product: selling wallpapers, prints or merchandise made from someone else's screen content.
  • Republishing photographs or artwork via screenshot to avoid licensing. Screenshotting an image doesn't launder its copyright.
  • Redistributing paid content — course materials, subscription video frames, licensed stock previews.

Trademarks and Brand Guidelines

Separate from copyright:

  • Logos and product names are trademarks. Using them nominatively — to refer to the actual product — is generally permitted; using them in ways that suggest partnership or endorsement is not.
  • Many companies publish brand guidelines specifying how their UI, logo and screenshots may be used. These are contractual or policy requirements, and following them is both safer and usually easy.
  • Some terms of service restrict screenshots of their platform. Check for high-stakes uses.

Screenshots of People and Private Content

  • A screenshot of a private message, a video call, or a closed group may raise privacy issues quite apart from copyright, and platform rules often prohibit sharing them.
  • Screenshots of people's faces are personal data under many privacy regimes.
  • Consider the difference between *legally permitted* and *ethically appropriate* — publishing a private conversation is rarely the former's problem and often the latter's.

Practical Rules

  1. Use the minimum necessary. Crop to the relevant region — better documentation *and* a stronger fair-use position.
  2. Attribute. Naming the source doesn't create a licence, but it supports a commentary purpose and is simply good practice.
  3. Don't remove watermarks or copyright notices visible in the captured content.
  4. Redact private and personal data in any screenshot you publish.
  5. Check brand guidelines before using another company's UI in marketing.
  6. Keep your own screenshots current — an added benefit of documenting what you captured and when.

For anything commercially significant — advertising, a paid course, a published book — get advice rather than relying on a general rule.