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CG76723 | Wasting assets: copyright

From HM Revenue & Customs · Capital Gains Manual

The copyright in any work runs for a specified period. Currently, it runs for 70 years after the end of the calendar year in which

  • the author, etc, dies

or

  • the work is first published or produced.

Thus, if copyright is acquired by a person 20 years or more after the end of the year in which the author died, it is then a wasting asset.

Before extension to 70 years copyright ran for 50 years and was a wasting asset from the end of the year in which the author died or the work was first published or produced.

CG68250 tells you more about copyright.