Copyright Act 1911

On the 1 July 1912 the Copyright Act 1911 came into force. It brought provisions on copyright into one Act for the first time by revising and repealing most earlier Acts.

Amendments included the introduction of a further extension of the term of protection, together with a new arrangement for calculating the term of copyright.

Records, perforated rolls, sound recordings and works of architecture also gained protection.

The Act also abolished the requirement to register copyright with Stationers Hall - a fundamental principle of the Berne Convention.

The Act abolished common law copyright protection in unpublished works, apart from unpublished paintings drawings and photographs.