Re: EU copyright extension

> I understand that the European Union has issued a Directive
> extending copyright in certain works to life of the author plus seventy
> and restoring copyright in works whose copyrights expired after life
> plus fifty. I also understand that this Directive,and/or UK
> implementing legislation, is to go into effect November 1.
>
> I would appreciate any information available on this as it
> effects UK copyright. IN particular:
>
> 1. When does life plus 70 take effect in the UK? Are copyright
> restorations immediate, or is there a lag time?
>
> 2. What works are affected?
>
> 3. What are the responsibilities of those who are now publishing
> works which prior to the Directive were PD in the UK? May they continue
> to do so for some period of time?
>
> 4. What are UK lawyers advising their publishing clients?
>
> Paul Sleven (psleven[_at_]panix.com)
> New York, NY

I talked to a UK copyright lawyer at an international copyright meeting in Munich earlier this month, and he tole me that the UK govt. had totally screwed up the process, but that it would be soon set "right" and the following assumptions should be acted on.

1. The govt. will have the regulation (called "Statutory Instrument") before Parliament in time to come into effect on 1 January 1996. (It must be before the House for at least 30 days.) The actual details were not known as of early October, since the first such drafting was so objectionable it was withdrawn.

   Expect effective date to be 1 Janaury 1996.

2. The changes will affect all work for which life-of-the-author plus 50 years was in place; now it is life-of-the-author plus 70, just as if the material had never gone into the public domain. Obviously this will affect print and music etc.

3. The details in the Statutory Instrument (yet to be published, but due any day) will tell us how the transition of public domain works back into copyright will go. Perhaps it will be like the US amendments to 104A re the return into copyright of material in the US public domain because they were published elsewhere before the US joined Berne. Look for a transition period, but the requirement to obtain a licence after that.

4. UK lawyers don't know what to advise their clients because they don't know what the regulation will be.

Note: material from authors who died between 1926 and 1946 (which are returning to private copyright) are still in the public domain in the US and Canada (which have life-plus-50 terms). It is just that material so used could not be exported to the UK or any other European territory (or any other jurisdiction with life-plus-70 term).

Note: this harmonization of European law with the German term will also affect a number of other countries (I think France has also extended its term) so it is not just UK material but material from other foreign sources as well which must be watched.

Until the Statutory Instrument is placed before the UK Parliament, no one can really answer your questions.

Ron B. Thomson
Canadian Copyright Institute
35 Spadina Road
Toronto ON Canada M5R 2S9
tel: 416-975-1756
fax: 416-975-1839
thomson[_at_]epas.utoronto.ca Received on Mon Oct 30 1995 - 14:31:36 GMT