Statutory guidance

Copyright Act

The principal legislation on copyright can be found in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

• From: Intellectual Property Office
• Published: 7 July 2011
• Last updated: 1 February 2021
  Show all updates

  1. 1 February 2021

     Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 updated to take into account amendments introduced by the The Intellectual Property (Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018.

  2. 25 January 2019

     Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 updated.

  3. 20 November 2017

     Removed duplicated material. Legislative links and lists of relevant legislation amending the 1988 Act are within the pdf.

  4. 1 October 2017

     A new updated version of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been published.

  5. 21 April 2017

     A new updated version of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been published.

  6. 2 December 2014

     A new updated version of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been published.

  7. 7 July 2011

     First published.

Documents

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

PDF, 1.14 MB, 322 pages

Details

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been amended on a number of occasions since it came into force on 1 August 1989. This document shows the copyright only sections of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended).