Petition Reduce copyright on published works to 70 years from first publication.

Current UK copright law protects published works for 70 years after the death of the author. This should be changed to 70 years after first publication.

The length of current copyright protection has a negative effect on economic activity, by preventing people from publishing works that would otherwise have gone out of copyright, and by preventing people from publishing derivative works making use of previously published works. Extending copyright after an author's death has no purpose, since dead people are no longer in a position to benefit from copyright protection. In addition, it is often difficult to discover when an author died, creating uncertainty as to whether a work is still in copyright or not.

Changing copyright to 70 years from first publication would still provide ample time for an author to profit from copyright protection.