ABSTRACT
In the immediate wake of the Brexit vote, questions were raised concerning Brexit’s potential impact in the sphere of copyright law. Would it, for example, bring about a return to the form of copyright law that had existed in the UK before the EU harmonization programme began in the early 1990s? Would the UK’s newly acquired legislative freedom result in significant divergence from the EU copyright acquis in the short, medium or long term? Would the ‘fair use’ defence be adopted (or re-adopted)? At a few years’ distance from these turbulent events, we can now reflect on the way in which this decoupling has been achieved and offer an initial assessment of its impact. It is argued here that, despite the rhetoric marking the Brexit process, the UK legislature and courts have, initially at least, adopted a conservative approach to the independent development of the law. As a consequence, copyright rules in this jurisdiction have not yet diverged to any great extent from the EU acquis. It is suggested that this approach has arisen, in part at least, as a consequences of the general legal structures put in place under the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018 (as amended) to ensure legal certainty in the UK at a time of potential disruption. However, it also appears to be the product of judicial reluctance to disturb rules that have become integral to the operation of UK copyright law over the last few decades.
Griffiths, Jonathan, The (Surprisingly Undramatic) Impact of Brexit on United Kingdom Copyright Law (September 1, 2025). It has been accepted to appear in [2025] Media and Arts Law Review.
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