Art is nearer to vital truth than history. Nonetheless, this short history has been based on a review of all the available records of the British Copyright Council since its inception.

We missed the mainly philosophical discussions preceding the adoption of the Statute of Anne 1710 for the encouragement of learning; nor did we contribute to the Gregory Committee leading to the 1956 Copyright Act.  From a Joint Committee of authors and publishers following the 1956 Act to a more formal but still unincorporated body in 1965 we became a properly constituted company limited by guarantee in 2007.

Plus ça change. The same issues of copyright protection are still relevant in 2020; but for some time now with an increasingly international outlook. This is reflected by our close partnership with WIPO and our annual training course for developing countries. Our work continues on UK Copyright contributing to copious reviews starting with the Whitford Committee in the Seventies carried out by copyright specialists to later reviews by various journalists. We will continue to engage with European developments – legislation and cases; we have been doing so for over 30 years. Internationally, we continue working with WIPO and the UK Government on international trade in, and protection of, our creativity.

And we are on twitter@BritCopyright for the latest copyright related developments.

 British Copyright Council History