The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48), also known as the CDPA, is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 15 November 1988. It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights) in the United Kingdom, which had, until then, been governed by the Copyright Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 74). It also creates an unregistered design right, and contains a number of modifications to the law of the United Kingdom on Registered Designs and patents.
Essentially, the act and amendment establishes that copyright in most works lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator if known, otherwise 70 years after the work was created or published (50 years for computer-generated works).
In order for a creation to be protected by copyright it must fall within one of the following categories of work: literary work, dramatic work, musical work, artistic work, films, sound recordings, broadcasts, and typographical arrangement of published editions.CDPA 1988, § 1(1)
The act
Part 1 of the act "restates and amends" (s. 172) the statutory basis for United Kingdom copyright law, although the Copyright Acts of 1911 (c. 46) and 1956 (c. 74) continue to have some effect in limited circumstances under ss. 170 & 171 and Schedule 1. It brings United Kingdom law into line with the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which the UK signed more than one hundred years previously, and allowed the ratification of the Paris Act of 1971.
Territorial application Part I of the act (copyright provisions) extends to the whole of the United Kingdom (s. 157); amendments by Order in Council extended the act to Bermuda and Gibraltar. Works originating (by publication or nationality/domicile of the author) in the Isle of Man or the following former dependent territories qualify for copyright under the act: Antigua, Dominica, Gambia, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kiribati, Lesotho, St. Christopher-Nevis, St. Lucia, Swaziland and Tuvalu. All other countries of origin whose works qualified for United Kingdom copyright under the UK Copyright Act 1911 and Copyright Act 1956 continue to qualify under this act (para. 4(3) of Schedule 1).
Works subject to copyright The act simplifies the different categories of work which are protected by copyright, eliminating the specific treatment of engravings and photographs. literary, dramatic and musical works (s. 3): these must be recorded in writing or otherwise to be granted copyright, and copyright subsists from the date at which recording takes place. Literary work includes computer programs, compilations and databases. artistic works (s. 4): includes buildings, photographs, engravings and works of artistic craftsmanship. sound recordings and films (s. 5) broadcasts (s. 6): a broadcast is a transmission by wireless telegraphy which is intended for, and capable of reception by, members of the public. published editions (s. 8) means the published edition of the whole or part of one or more literary, dramatic or musical works. The following works are exempted from copyright by the transitional provisions of Schedule 1: artistic works made before 1 June 1957 which constituted a design which could be registered under the Registered Designs Act 1949 c. 88 (or repealed measures) and which was used as a model for reproduction by an industrial process (para. 6); films made before 1 June 1957: these are treated as dramatic works (if they so qualify under the 1911 Act) and/or as photographs (para. 7); broadcasts made before 1 June 1957 and cable programmes transmitted before 1 January 1985 (para; 9). Finally, section 3(2) states that copyright does not subsist in a literary, dramatic or musical work until it is recorded in writing or otherwise. This act of recording a work in any form is called "fixation." An example includes taking a photograph or writing down a poem. This fixes the work retrospectively from the moment the work was created.
The act as it received royal assent does not substantially change the qualification requirements of the author or the country of origin of the work, which are restated as ss. 153–156: these have since been largely modified, in particular by the Duration of Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 1995 No. 3297.
Rights in performances Part II of the act creates a series of performers' rights in application of the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations of 1961. These rights are retrospective in respect of performances before commencement on 1 August 1989 (s. 180). These rights have been largely extended by the transposition of European Union directives and by the application of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty: the section below describes only the rights which were created by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 itself.
A performer has the exclusive right to authorise the recording and/or broadcast of his performances (s. 182). The use or broadcast of recordings without the performer's consent (s. 183) and the import or distribution of illicit recordings (s. 184) are also infringements of the performer's rights. A person having an exclusive recording contract over one or more performances of an artist holds equivalent rights to the performer himself (ss. 185–188). Schedule 2 lists the permitted acts (limitations) in relation to these rights.
Rights in performances last for fifty years from the end of the year in which the performance was given (s. 191). They may not be assigned or transferred, and pass to the performer's executors on death (s. 192). An infringement of rights in performances is actionable under the tort of breach of statutory duty. Orders are available for the delivery up (Scots law: delivery) and disposal of infringing copies (ss. 195, 204): holders in rights in performances may also seize such copies (s. 196). The making, dealing in or use of infringing copies is a criminal offense (s. 198), as is the false representation of authority to give consent (s. 201).
Duration of copyright The provisions on duration have been largely modified by the Duration of Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 1995 No. 3297. The provisions of the act (ss. 12–15) as it received Royal Assent are given below. All periods of copyright run until the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire. The duration of copyright under the act does not depend on the initial owner of the copyright, nor on the country of origin of the work. The following durations do not apply to Crown copyright, Parliamentary copyright or the copyright of international organisations.
Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic workss. 12 Copyright lasts for seventy years from the death of the author. If the author is unknown, copyright expires seventy years after the work is first made available to the public (The Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 amended these durations from the previous period of fifty to seventy years). If the work is computer-generated, copyright expires fifty years after the work is made. Sound recordings and films s. 13 Copyright lasts for fifty years after the recording is made. If the recording or film is released (published, broadcast or shown in public) within this period, the copyright lasts for seventy years from the date of release. (Amended from 50 years by The Copyright and Duration of Rights in Performances Regulations 2013).
Note that the Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 amended the durations, for films only, to seventy years from the death of the last principal director, author or composer. If the film is of unknown authorship: seventy years from creation, or if released within this period, seventy years from first release. Broadcasts and cable programmes s. 14 Copyright lasts for fifty years after the first broadcast or transmission. The repeat of a broadcast or a cable programme does not generate a new copyright period. Typographical arrangements s. 15 Copyright lasts for twenty-five years after the edition is published.
Transitional provisions These provisions apply to works existing on 1 August 1989, other than those covered by Crown copyright or Parliamentary copyright (paras. 12 & 13 of Schedule 1).
The duration of copyright in the following types of work continued to be governed by the 1956 Act: engravings published posthumously; published photographs and photographs taken before 1 June 1957; published sound recordings and sound recordings made before 1 June 1957; published films and registered films; anonymous and pseudonymous literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works (other than photographs) where these have been published and unless the identity of the author becomes known. — however these transitional provisions were largely cancelled by the 1995 Regulations, which in many cases caused lapsed UK copyrights to be revived.
Copyright in the following types of work lasts until 31 December 2039: unpublished literary, dramatic and musical works of which the author has died (unpublished in the sense of the proviso to s. 2(3) of the 1956 Act); unpublished engravings of which the author has died; unpublished photographs taken on or after 1 June 1957; unpublished sound recordings made on or after 1 June 1957, unless they are released during the period of copyright; films which were neither published nor registered, unless they are released during the period of copyright; works of universities and colleges which were protected by perpetual copyright under the Copyright Act 1775 c. 53.
Mass-produced artistic works Artistic works that are mass-produced by an industrial process suffer from a downgrading of their copyright term from the life of the creator plus 70 to 25 years as a result of the provisions of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 was introduced into Parliament on 23 May 2012 and received royal assent the next year in April. If section 56(2) of the Bill is enacted then artistic works that are mass-produced by the copyright holder will benefit from the same period of protection as those not replicated in large numbers. The result will be a significant extension from 25 years to that of the life of the creator plus 70 years. The proposed change is a reaction to pressure from the international furniture industry supported by manufacturers of decorative arts: copyright holders of many famous and much copied 20th century furniture design classics such as the Egg Chair and Barcelona Daybed hope that long expired copyright periods will be revived allowing for a further period of commercial exploitation.Impact Assessment Report dated 15 May 2012 carried out by the Intellectual Property Office. Some legal commentators have doubted whether the legislation will have the desired effect. They contend that many mass-produced items of 20th-century industrial furniture may not be defined by the courts of the United Kingdom as works of artistic craftsmanship but as mere designs. A design that is not an artistic work attracts no copyright protection under the act.See, for example, Edmund Eldergill, Barrister-at-Law, "Copyright and Furniture Design Classics", legal article, 2012.
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