<P> The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c 48), also known as the CDPA, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 15 November 1988 . It reformulates almost completely the statutory basis of copyright law (including performing rights) in the United Kingdom, which had, until then, been governed by the Copyright Act 1956 (c. 74). It also creates an unregistered design right, and contains a number of modifications to the law of the United Kingdom on Registered Designs and patents . </P> <P> Essentially, the 1988 Act and amendment establishes that copyright in most works lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator if known, otherwise 70 years after the work was created or published (50 years for computer - generated works). </P> <P> In order for a creation to be protected by copyright it must fall within one of the following categories of work: literary work, dramatic work, musical work, artistic work, films, sounds recordings, broadcasts, and typographical arrangement of published editions . </P> <P> Part 1 of the Act "restates and amends" (s . 172) the statutory basis for United Kingdom copyright law, although the Copyright Acts of 1911 (c. 46) and 1956 (c. 74) continue to have some effect in limited circumstances under ss. 170 & 171 and Schedule 1 . It brings United Kingdom law into line with the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which the UK signed more than one hundred years previously, and allowed the ratification of the Paris Act of 1971 . </P>

Copyright designs and patents act 1988 what does it cover