Copyright Protection for the Restoration, Reconstruction and Digitisation of Public Domain Works

Copyright protection of the restoration and reconstruction of works, especially of public domain works, is a controversial matter. One of the pillars of copyright protection, the requirement that the work is original, that is, it originates from the author and does not derive entirely from a pre-existing work (so the UK copyright law for authorial works), or that it is a personal intellectual creation bearing the imprint of the author (so the originality definition in author’s rights countries) seems to be undermined by the very idea of restoration. Restoration and reconstruction are conceived of as bringing to life again the pre-existing work, not a new work; they are deliberately designed as being not ‘original’ – in the way in which a layperson would understand this term. They rather want to be subservient to the previous artist’s ideas and conceptions and in line with the epoch in which the work was created, often long after the expiry of copyright, or even well before the advent of copyright. However, copyright protection can exist for the restoration of public domain works, potentially with the unwelcome result that a work in the public domain may in part get dragged back into copyright protection, and such protection hinges on the apparent paradox that for the purpose of copyright original works can (within limits) also be derivative works, even copies