Changes to UK copyright law enter into force
A batch of changes to the UK’s copyright law has been approved and entered into force.
Several new exceptions to existing copyright law were implemented on June 1.
The new regulations, originally published on March 27, make amendments to the country’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Initially due to be published in October last year, the changes are designed to bring UK copyright law up to date for the digital age and stem from the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, an independent review of the entire UK IP system.
Amendments were made to laws in several areas, including research and private study, and accessible formats for disabled people.
The exceptions that came into force yesterday include; allowing disability groups or their representatives to make copies of materials in different formats, allowing libraries to scan material for digital collections and enabling public administrators, including local councils, to publish material online.
“The law on these exceptions is changing in a number of small but important ways, to make our copyright system better suited to the digital age,” the UK’s Intellectual Property Office said in a statement.
The remaining exceptions, including the rules surrounding copies for private use, and parody and pastiche will be passed through “as soon as possible”, according to the government.
