Copyright Act 1956

15 Copyright in published editions of works

(1) Copyright shall subsist, subject to the provisions of this Act, in every published edition of any one or more literary, dramatic or musical works in the case of which either—

(a) the first publication of the edition took place in the United Kingdom, or in another country to which this section extends, or

(b) the publisher of the edition was a qualified person at the date of the first publication thereof:

Provided that this subsection does not apply to an edition which reproduces the typographical arrangement of a previous edition of the same work or works.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the publisher of an edition shall be entitled to any copyright subsisting in the edition by virtue of this section; and any such copyright shall continue to subsist until the end of the period of twenty-five years from the end of the calendar year in which the edition was first published, and shall then expire.

(3) The act restricted by the copyright subsisting by virtue of this section in a published edition is the making, by any photographic or similar process, of a reproduction of the typographical arrangement of the edition.

(4) The copyright under this section in a published edition is not infringed by the making by or on behalf of a librarian of a reproduction of the typographical arrangement of the edition, if he is the librarian of a library of a class prescribed by regulations made under this subsection by the Board of Trade, and the conditions prescribed by those regulations are complied with.