I'm afraid that some confusion has crept into this debate, because
it's incorrect to say that rolls are copyright for 70 years from
death of artist under British law.  They aren't!  The values I referred
to a few days back are the correct ones, as reference to the British
Government web sites will readily confirm.

An overview of the position can be found on Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_copyright_law.  This has useful
links to all the relevant legislation as well as a thorough summary
of the situation.  The one applicable for rolls is "The Duration of
Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995 ",
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953297_en_1.htm.

Assuming that piano rolls are categorised as sound recordings (which
they normally are, although they don't quite fit, but that's another
matter), the relevant part of the legislation states "Duration of
copyright in sound recordings.  [...] Copyright expires [...] at the
end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in
which it is made".  There are caveats for unpublished recordings and
imports from regions with shorter expiration terms.  A significant
point is that this 50 year term is not extended for items originating
in countries with a longer expiration period, such as America.

So, any roll older than 50 years can be copied in Britain without
infringing on the rights of the company that made the recording or the
artist who recorded it.  The music on the roll is a different matter,
and normally will be copyright for 70 years after the death of the
composer.  The 70-year term also applies to any lyrics and other
created items such as the annotations seen on Audiographic rolls.

The key point to understand in this is the difference between the
rights of the authors of things being performed (70 years from death)
and those of performers and producers of performances (50 years from
the time of performance).  This generic distinction is fairly
widespread throughout different types of copyright.

Julian Dyer