Copyright Act 1968

Where, at a time more than 50 years after the end of the calendar year in which the author of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work died, copyright subsists in the work but:

the work has not been published; and

a reproduction of the work, or, in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, the manuscript of the work, is kept in the collection of a library or archives where it is, subject to any regulations governing that collection, open to public inspection;

by the making or communication of a reproduction of the work by a person for the purposes of research or study or with a view to publication; or

by the making or communication of a reproduction of the work by, or on behalf of, the officer in charge of the library or archives if the reproduction is supplied (whether by way of communication or otherwise) to a person who satisfies the officer in charge of the library or archives that the person requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study, or with a view to publication, and that the person will not use it for any other purpose.

If the manuscript, or a reproduction, of an unpublished thesis or other similar literary work is kept in a library of a university or other similar institution, or in an archives, the copyright in the thesis or other work is not infringed by the making or communication of a reproduction of the thesis or other work by or on behalf of the officer in charge of the library or archives if the reproduction is supplied (whether by communication or otherwise) to a person who satisfies an authorized officer of the library or archives that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study.