Does ripped intellectual property qualify as a casualty loss for tax purposes?

Paha. A fair amount of my work gets ripped. Would it be possible to use this to my advantage as a tax write off? Is this something anyone has done before?

How do you see work that was copied written off if you got paid for it in the first place? I think that at this time the only tools you can use are C&D letters and other legal ways of fighting, but not sure you can write that off in an accounting sense of the word, although its an interesting question.

Initial problem is with evaluation the work that was stolen. If a single copy of a movie was downloaded illegally, does the movie studio write off $10,000,000 if it was the budget? If such was the case, nobody will pay any taxes in the creative industry.

How do you see work that was copied written off if you got paid for it in the first place?

Sorry, I mean personal projects.

For the sake of this question lets assume I operate a wordpress theming business and my designs were leaked into the warez scene. Now the web is at large with my intellectual property. Could that theft qualify as a casualty loss for tax purposes?

I don't know UK tax law, but that sounds like a quick way to get audited in the US. To write expenses off you have to substantiate its exact cost, the tax people will likely be less than willing to accept your judgment on what it cost.

Dan, if you're considering this seriously you need to talk to an expert in UK tax law. As Artashes and Village Genius suggest, given the way most web designers work, it would be difficult to substantiate and so justify.

Two tests to consider:
Does your business insurance cover this kind of loss?

Is this even an insurable loss? If you could have insurance coverage, how would it be worded and what documentation would the company need to pay out? I imagine that a policy like this may not be cost-effective unless you run a design mill and someone stole your entire archive however.

What are you doing now to protect your work?

To claim a loss to your insurance company or to the taxman, you'd almost certainly have to demonstrate that you attempted to protect your work. This could be through watermarking, controlled access such as password protection, asking clients to sign a statement that they have had access to your designs and will not distribute them in any way, etc. The burden of proof (that you took all reasonable precautions) would probably be on you.

You may also face the problem of proving that the stolen work was identical in all ways to your produce. Any change -- language, color, size of certain elements, as well as code-- could make this a "new" work.