Altering or removing copyright ownership information, in IPTC or anywhere else, is a criminal offence in UK under the 1988 Copyright Designs and Patents Act if done with the intention of depriving the rights holder of their intellectual property rights. However the practice is commonplace among publishers, who then fail to seek permission or pay the unknown rights holder, or syndicate the material as their own. Prosecution is virtually impossible since intent would have to be proved.

Altering other metadata such as captions may also be unlawful, contravening the author's moral rights if they have been asserted.