Acts and Statutory Instruments

The principal legislation on copyright can be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 It has been amended on a number of occasions since it came into force on 1 August 1989, but the amending laws have not been officially consolidated into a single text. An unofficial, consolidated version of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (1.27Mb) is available.

Electronic copies of legislation passed in the last few years, both Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments (parts of UK law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary debate before becoming law), can be obtained from the Office of Public Sector Information.

The most important legislation that has amended the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is as follows:

Primary legislation (Acts of Parliament)

• Broadcasting Act 1990 - Part IX
• Broadcasting Act 1996 - Part VII
• The Copyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002
• The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002
• The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003

Statutory Instruments implementing EC Directives

The law relating to copyright may also be affected by Statutory Instruments. These are secondary legislation passed by parliament.