UK government seeking views on extending copyright design term
The UK government is proposing to bring the copyright protection term for designs into line with other existing works and is seeking the views of the public on how it should be implemented.
The government is conducting a review into how long it should take to repeal section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the effect it will have on UK businesses.
Section 52 provides 25 years of protection for copyrighted designs, beginning at the end of the calendar year in which the product is first marketed. The government is proposing that the protection for designs be extended to ‘life plus 70 years’, the current term of protection for other copyrighted works.
It is also seeking views on the impact of the repeal on works manufactured before 1957 and the issue of compulsory licensing.
The consultation is set to end on December 23, 2015. The publication of the consultation and the final proposals are expected to be released in April 2016.
In March, the government announced it would implement a “commencement order” as part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, removing the section 52 provision. It said the change would come into effect on April 6, 2020.
However, the commencement order was revoked in July following a judicial challenge. The government accepted that the five-year transitional period for implementing the changes was too long.
