Definition

Although a work might otherwise be eligible for copyright protection, by reason of such things as its originality and the date of its creation or publication or the date of the author's death, it only ‘qualifies’ for protection under UK law if particular conditions are fulfilled at the time of creation or publication. In practice, most works in UK archives that are eligible for copyright also fulfil the qualification requirements and are therefore protected by the terms of UK law.

There are two grounds for qualification of all works except broadcasts, only one of which needs to be satisfied for the work to qualify, and both relate to the source country. They are the status of the author of the work and the place of publication. By definition, an unpublished work can qualify only under the former.

A broadcast qualifies if the place of transmission is a qualifying country (defined as for publication, see 3.1.3, but see also 2.6.9–12).

1988 (CDPA) ss153–162

Author of the work

A work qualifies for protection under UK copyright law if, at the time the work was made or published, the author was a British citizen, a British Dependent Territories citizen, a British national (overseas), a British overseas citizen, a British subject or a British protected person, an individual living in the UK or in one of the countries currently recognized as providing qualification (see 3.1.3–4), or a body incorporated under UK law or the law of one of the countries currently recognized as providing qualification. However, if a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work was published before 1 June 1957 in one of the countries not then recognized as providing qualification, it cannot qualify on grounds of authorship even if the author is from a qualifying country now. An unpublished work of any date qualifies for protection now if the author was from a country that is now a qualifying country.

Works by people of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the British overseas territories – Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus Sovereign Bases, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St Helena (with Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia (with the South Sandwich Islands) and Turks & Caicos Islands – all qualify in the UK on the basis of authorship.