Explanatory note

This is the tenth Commencement Order made under the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (c.24) (“the Act”).

This Order brings into force section 74 of the Act which repeals section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”). Section 52 introduced a copyright exception into United Kingdom law relating to the industrial exploitation of artistic works, which limits copyright protection to a period of 25 years from the end of the year in which such articles are first marketed.

The transitional provision in article 4(1) provides for the making, the provision of means for making, or the importation of a copy of an artistic work after the commencement date if it is pursuant to a contract entered into before the consultation time, and before the commencement date that act would not have constituted an infringement of copyright by virtue of section 52 of the 1988 Act. The transitional provision in article 5 provides for what can be done with those copies after commencement, and also with copies that were already in existence before the consultation time (this would cover, for example, the physical sale of such copies and the marketing of those copies by way of online advertising on a website).