How much does it cost to copyright a logo in the UK?
Nothing. UK copyright arises automatically the moment you create an original artistic work, with no registration system and no fee to pay, under section 12 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It lasts for your life plus 70 years. A trademark registration, which does cost money, protects the logo as a badge of origin instead.
Why is copyright free?
Copyright is not a registered right in the UK. There is no application, no form and no fee, because protection exists automatically the moment an original work is created and recorded. The UK Intellectual Property Office confirms this directly: it operates registers for patents, trade marks and designs, but not for copyright.
Does a logo actually qualify?
Usually, if it has enough originality. UK law protects "original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work," and a logo is normally an artistic work. The bar is low: it needs to reflect the creator's own skill and judgement, not copy something else. A very simple mark, a single word set in a standard typeface with no distinctive design, sits closer to the line and may attract thin or no copyright protection on its own.
How long does it last?
Life of the creator plus 70 years, under section 12 of the CDPA 1988 as amended. If the logo was made by an employee in the course of their job, UK copyright law normally makes the company the first owner, not the individual designer, unless the contract says otherwise.
If copyright is automatic and free, why register a trademark?
Because copyright and a trademark protect different things. Copyright stops someone copying the artwork itself. It does nothing to stop a competitor using a different-looking logo for the same name, or the same logo for an unrelated business, because copyright is not about who trades under a name. A UK trademark registration protects the logo and the name as a badge of origin for specific goods and services, is easy to prove in a dispute because it is on a public register, and is what gets checked first in a conflict.