The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act has finished its passage through Parliament. The Act does a number of things, including changing the copyright landscape. Creative designs manufactured through an industrial process will now last for the designer’s life plus 70 years. In addition, the Act paves the way for the Government to introduce new Regulations on orphan works and collective licensing. Orphan works are creative works for which the owners cannot be identified. They are often left unused for fear of infringing someone’s copyright if the owner’s permission cannot be sought. The Government wants to see orphan works digitised or otherwise used as long as a diligent search has been carried out to find the owner.
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