U.K. Copyright Duration

I have a few questions about the duration of copyright in the U.K.:

1. When did the U.K. adopt "life + 70" years?
2. Was "life + 70" retroactively applied to works that were still under copyright? Did it revive copyrights in works already in the public domain?
3. When did the U.K. previously adopt "life + 50"? Was it retroactively applied to works still under copyright? Did it revive copyright in works already in the public domain?

For those who would prefer a concrete hypothetical: Suppose a book was first published in 1895, and the author died in 1946. My understanding (correct me if I am mistaken) is that in 1895, the duration of copyright in the U.K. was the longer of life + 7 years or 42 years. So, unless the copyright was extended by legislation, the work would have entered the public domain in 1953. Is this correct?

Thanks for your thoughts on this matter.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Associate Professor
Whittier Law School
<tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> Received on Thu Jan 21 1999 - 20:00:04 GMT