Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

27 Meaning of “infringing copy”. U.K.

(1) In this Part “infringing copy”, in relation to a copyright work, shall be construed in accordance with this section.

(2) An article is an infringing copy if its making constituted an infringement of the copyright in the work in question.

(3) F1 ... An article is also an infringing copy if—

(a) it has been or is proposed to be imported into the United Kingdom, and

(b) its making in the United Kingdom would have constituted an infringement of the copyright in the work in question, or a breach of an exclusive licence agreement relating to that work.

F2 (3A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) Where in any proceedings the question arises whether an article is an infringing copy and it is shown—

(a) that the article is a copy of the work, and

(b) that copyright subsists in the work or has subsisted at any time,

it shall be presumed until the contrary is proved that the article was made at a time when copyright subsisted in the work.

(5) Nothing in subsection (3) shall be construed as applying to an article which—

[F3 (a) may lawfully be imported into the United Kingdom by virtue of anything which forms part of assimilated law as a result of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, or

(b) has been or is proposed to be imported into the United Kingdom after being put into circulation in the EEA by or with the consent of the copyright owner.]

[F4 (5A) In subsection (5)(a), the reference to assimilated law is to be read, until the coming into force of paragraph 2(6) of Schedule 2 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, as a reference to retained EU law.]

(6) In this Part “infringing copy” includes a copy falling to be treated as an infringing copy by virtue of any of the following provisions —

• [F5 section 29A(3) (copies for text and data analysis for non-commercial research),]

• [F6 section 28B(7) and (9) (personal copies for private use),]

• [F7 section 31A(5) and (6) (disabled persons: copies of works for personal use),]

• [F8 section 31B(11) (making and supply of accessible copies by authorised bodies),]

• [F5 section 35(5) (recording by educational establishments of broadcasts),]

• [F5 section 36(8) (copying and use of extracts of works by educational establishments),]

• [F5 section 42A(5)(b) (copying by librarians: single copies of published works),]

• [F5 section 61(6)(b) (recordings of folksongs),]

• F9 ...

• F10 ...

• F10 ...

• F10 ...

• F10 ...

• section 56(2) (further copies, adaptations, &c. of work in electronic form retained on transfer of principal copy),

• section 63(2) (copies made for purpose of advertising artistic work for sale),

• section 68(4) (copies made for purpose of broadcast F11 . . . ),

• [F12 section 70(2) (recording for the purposes of time-shifting),

• section 71(2) (photographs of broadcasts), or]

• any provision of an order under section 141 (statutory licence for certain reprographic copying by educational establishments).

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 27(3) omitted (1.12.1996) by virtue of S.I. 1996/2967, reg. 9(4) (with Pt. III)

F2 S. 27(3A) omitted (1.12.1996) by virtue of S.I. 1996/2967, reg. 9(4) (with Pt. III)

F3 S. 27(5)(a)(b) substituted for words in s. 27(5) (31.12.2023) by The Intellectual Property (Exhaustion of Rights) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1287), regs. 1(b), 4(2)(a)

F4 S. 27(5A) inserted (31.12.2023) by The Intellectual Property (Exhaustion of Rights) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1287), regs. 1(b), 4(2)(b)

F5 Words in s. 27(6) inserted (1.6.2014) by The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Research, Education, Libraries and Archives) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1372), reg. 1, Sch. para. 2(b)

F6 Words in s. 27(6) inserted (1.10.2014) by The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Personal Copies for Private Use) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/2361), regs. 1(1), 4(1) (with reg. 5) (but note that the amending S.I. was quashed with prospective effect by the High Court in the case of R (British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and others) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] EWHC 2041 (Admin), 17 July 2015)

F7 Words in s. 27(6) substituted (1.6.2014) by The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Disability) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1384), reg. 1(1), Sch. para. 1(a)

F8 Words in s. 27(6) substituted (1.6.2014) by The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Disability) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1384), reg. 1(1), Sch. para. 1(b)

F9 Words in s. 27(6) omitted (1.6.2014) by virtue of The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Disability) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1384) , reg. 1(1) , Sch. para. 1(c)

F10 Words in s. 27(6) omitted (1.6.2014) by virtue of The Copyright and Rights in Performances (Research, Education, Libraries and Archives) Regulations 2014 (S.I. 2014/1372), reg. 1, Sch. para. 2(a)

F11 Words in s. 27(6) repealed (31.10.2003) by The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2498), reg. 2(2), Sch. 2 (with regs. 31-40)

F12 S. 27(6): entries substituted (31.10.2003) for word "or" appearing at end of entry for s. 68(4) by The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2498), reg. 20(3) (with regs. 31-40)