Posted by Peter H on October 08, 2007 at 20:48:36 from 86.130.136.108 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Copyright etc. posted by Jock on October 07, 2007 at 22:22:25:
The European Commission decided to harmonise copyright duration
Yes - Germany had 70 year copyright, Spain and France 60, UK 50. Originally, all had a 50 year period under the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention specified 50 years from the author's death because the intention was to provide copyright protection to an author and to two subsequent generations of his/her descendants. By 1993, the Commission reckoned that as the average life-span in Europe had grown longer, 50 years was no longer sufficient to protect the rights of two generations - hence the extension to 70. That is as far as I'm taking this, as I am getting the awful feeling that this Berne Convention stuff is getting a bit too Beckfoot-Plumbingish . . . .