British TV in the Public Domain

In the UK, copyright law states:



Does this mean that things like early episodes of Coronation Street and other television programmes from the 1950s/early 60s have now entered the public domain? In which case I'm surprised we haven't seen more of those cheap DVD companies releasing content from British TV.

If the law stands it means we're going to be seeing more and more classic TV becoming public domain over the next few years.

There are ways of 'renewing' copyright. notably the current owner can repackage material and then sell in the market, either by broadcast, digital sale or in hard format, before the term expires.

If some had recorded the original broadcast, kept it, and was now bringing it out, there is more of a chance of it being possible. But any public domain release would have to come from a subsequent copy held by the broadcaster, which in Itself has a copyright.

I don't think that's the case, because the law states that repeat broadcasts/releases do not count and the copyright expires at the same time as the original broadcast.

Copyright law has changed recently, because people are living longer. Surely Hancock's Half Hour isn't out of copyright yet? Galton and Simpson are still with us....

Prior to July 1st 1957 no broadcast (TV or radio) has any copyright on it at all, see the Copyright Act 1956. Any recordings that do surface could technically be classed as public domain.

Cable broadcasts before 1985 also have no copyright, under the 1988 Copyright Design and Patents Act. These could be seen as public domain too.

There are different rules for written works than broadcast works. You raise a sensible point though... perhaps the scripts are still copyright which is why the programmes would be protected too?

Depends how you want to classify it.
Copyright lasts for the life of the author + 70 years, or 70 years after the death of the last contributor to the work if there was more than one.

Also there's the possibility the script is actually owned by the company, not the scriptwriter. This may apply for inhouse scripts written by somebody while under the employment of the BBC or ITV company. If that is the case then the life+70 doesn't apply, surely?

I think it's more because descendents and corporate interests (who are the ones who can pay for the lobbyists to make this kind of thing happen) have realised that works can continue to rake in big money for far longer than was thought possible when copyright was first established.

I'm not sure that's true - the only exception I know of being the copyright term for recordings has recently extended from 50 to 70 years from the date of the original recording - but it only applies to stuff which was released more recently - hence stuff like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_50th_Anniversary_Collection

What complicates things is that while the recording might be out of copyright now, in the case of Thunderbirds - the music and various other things are not, so it's not Public Domain. Also, it's doubtful any 50 year old recordings of the series exist - every transfer, remaster etc will have a fresh copyright on it. It's a bit of a minefield frankly.

Are there different laws for music in programs as well? There are some movies here in the US that are in the public domain but the music in them is still copyrighted either they pay the royalties or replace the song. Another example is if the story the movie was based on's copyright is still in place/renewed - A Wonderful Life is a US example..