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 years 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 Bill was introduced into Parliament on 23rd May 2012 and is likely to become law in late 2012 or early 2013. 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. 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 1988 Act.
Read more about this topic: Copyright, Designs And Patents Act 1988, Duration of Copyright
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