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Concept
Copyright law of the United Kingdom
Summary
Under the law of the United Kingdom, a copyright is an intangible property right subsisting in certain qualifying subject matter. Copyright law is governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (the 1988 Act), as amended from time to time. As a result of increasing legal integration and harmonisation throughout the European Union a complete picture of the law can only be acquired through recourse to EU jurisprudence, On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament approved new copyright rules to help secure the rights of writers and musicians.
History of copyright law
Copyright protection in Britain dates back to the 1556 Charter of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers.
The Licensing of the Press Act 1662 gave publishers exclusive printing rights, but did not give any rights to authors.
Parliament failed to renew the Act in 1694, primarily to remove monopoly and encourage a free press.
The modern concept of copyright originated in Great Britain, in the year 1710, with the Statute of Anne. This Act prescribed a copyright term of fourteen years, and let the author renew for another fourteen years, after which the work went into the public domain. Over the years, additional acts and case law steadily refined the definitions of what could be protected, including derivative works, and the degree of protection given.
Copyright law is now governed by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This Act came into force on 1 August 1989, save for some minor provisions. Various amendments have been made to the original statute, mostly originating from Copyright law of the European Union and related case law.
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