UK term of copyright extended to 70 years

On 1 October this year an important amendment was made to UK copyright law. Following the change, the term of copyright has now been increased from 25 years after the death of the author to 70 years, thus bringing UK legislation into line with that of most other European countries.

Because of the shorter protection previously offered, it has hitherto been fully legal in the United Kingdom to reproduce designer furniture conceived by luminaries such as Arne Jacobsen and Mies van der Rohe, who died in 1971 and 1969 respectively. The new UK Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act has now put a stop to this practice.