Dear Colleagues
As you may know, the Government is in the process of introducing a number of changes to copyright law. This is in response to the recommendations contained in the Hargreaves Review (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/hargreaves.htm)
Last year the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act amended section 170 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) to enable the duration of copyright in certain unpublished works to be reduced.
It is now proposed that the transitional provisions in relation to the protection of unpublished Crown copyright literary, dramatic or musical works should be removed. This means that the general rule on duration in Crown copyright works of 125 years from the end of the year in which the work was made will apply (section 163 (3) (a) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 refers). Currently, an unpublished Crown copyright work will have a copyright duration of 125 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made or 50 years from 1989 ( i.e. the year in which the CDPA 88 came into force) – whichever is the later.
The effect of the change is that unpublished Crown copyright works made 125 years ago will immediately fall out of copyright. In addition, unpublished works made between 1889 and 1914 will have a reduced period of copyright protection. For example, the copyright in an unpublished work made in 1912 will remain in copyright until 2037, rather than 2039 which is the case under the current legislation. One of the practical effects of this is that some unpublished Crown works that are several hundred years old that currently have copyright protection until 2039 will be out of copyright when the amended legislation comes into force.
It should be noted that duration of third party copyrights acquired by the Crown is unaffected by this specific change.
Given the government’s support for open data and the fact that most Crown copyright information, including unpublished records, can be re-used freely under the Open Government Licence at:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/2/
The National Archives regards the proposal as sensible and represents a good opportunity to regularise the position.
If you have queries regarding the duration of copyright in non-Crown works we suggest that you contact the Intellectual Property Office at:
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I would be grateful for any views on the proposal by 15 August. If, in the meantime you have any concerns or queries please feel free to contact me.
Kevin Mulley
Senior Adviser, 20 Years Programme (NHS and DEFRA)
Archives Sector Development
The National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU
Tel +44 (0)20 8392 5330 x2635
Fax +44 (0)20 8392 1970
Websites: <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>
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