Insurance company In Focus says that it is receiving, from the photographers it represents, an increasing number of advice requests "on issues surrounding their work and social networking sites."

Last week, Facebook announced that 750 million photos had been uploaded on Facebook in the space of 48 hours during the New Year's Eve weekend. But, says In Focus, with the ability to upload high-resolution images, "professional photography is creeping onto social network sites more and more with a growing number of people using professional shots as their profile picture, in shared wedding albums or even submitted as competition entries."

In a statement, Steve Hewlett of In Focus, says that professional photographers should take action to prevent their images from ending up on the site without authorisation. 

"People aren't knowingly breaking the law, they just need to be made aware," says Hewlett. "Copyright belongs to the photographer. This is unless the photographer has been contracted to take the images with the client owning the copyright. According to British law, copyright is granted at the point of creation. It belongs to the photographer unless it is taken by an employee in the course of their work, here it belongs automatically to employer."

In the US, as well, cases have been brought against Facebook users after they uploaded copyrighted photographs, says Keith Arrowsmith, intellectual property and media partner at law firm Ralli. "I have been involved in cases where consumers have been faced with demands for hundreds of pounds of licence fees after unwittingly using unauthorised photos online," he says in a statement. "There is a certain amount of naivety regarding what can and can't be used without permission. The facts speak themselves, however, and people do get caught and do get in trouble for using images they have found online without seeking prior permission."

Professional photographer are entitled to ask Facebook users to remove their images, and can take legal action if they refuse, says Hewlett. "Photographers should [also] supply an 'image license' document outlining what clients can or can't do. It's good business practice to make things clear."

BJP would also advise professional photographers to include, for a fee, a license authorising their clients to upload, for non-commercial purposes, images on social networking sites such as Facebook.