[fc-uk-discuss] The BPI's Latest Claims

[rob at robmyers.org]

Quoting "David M. Berry" <d.berry at sussex.ac.uk>:

> Different classifications of works (i.e. books, designs, artwork,  
> paintings, music, songs etc etc etc) can have different copyright  
> terms. For instance a songwriter gets life+70 years for a song, but  
> if that song is recorded to a CD the copyright in the recording only  
> lasts for 50 years. Books are copyrighted for life+70 years, but the  
> typographical layout of the book last for (I think) twenty years.

Yes. This may be why you see a (c) stuck at the front of paperback reprints of
classic (out of copyright) works. Or they may just be trying it on. :-)

> Corporations (if they produce any creative works) get 50 years for  
> their copyrights (I suspect that this they would very much like to  
> change).

"Computer generated works" get 50 years Film (and TV?) is also 50 IIRC. Crown
copyright is different again, lasting 125 years if te work is 
unpublished. (I'm
sure there are other regulations for generally unpublished work.) The 
King James
Bible is under perpetual crown copyright. Peter Pan has some perpetual royalty
provisions, but is not generally under copyright.

So there are various different copyright terms (at least 20 years from date of
production, 50 years from date of production, 125 years from the date of
production, 70 years from death, and perpetual), and they apply to different
media more or less randomly.

I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

- Rob.