Acts

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. The copyright sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) (1.27Mb) are available.

Discussion of sections 274 to 281 and 285 to 295 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (in relation to Patent Agents, Patents County Courts etc) can be found in the Manual of Patent Practice. A consolidated version (81Kb) of these sections is also available on our website. In relation to Design Right and Registered Designs, sections 213-273 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as enacted are available via the OPSI website . The Registered Designs Act as amended is available on our website. Sections 282-284 in relation to trade mark agents are also available on the OPSI website whilst a consolidated version of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (305Kb) is available on our website. Please note that some of these links will take you to the IP Professional Section of our website whilst others will take you to the OPSI website. To get back, just use the back button on your web browser.

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