sadly, from what I've read so far that's not true.
the law says whether or not the item is recognisable to anyone - this will include the lawyers/accountants in Boots - to use your example...
Quote:
“Ten years ago,” Guggenheim explains, “if incidental artwork . . . was
recognized by a common person,” then you would have to clear its copyright.
Today, things are very different. Now “if any piece of artwork is recognizable
by anybody . . . then you have to clear the rights of that and pay” to
use the work. “[A]lmost every piece of artwork, any piece of furniture, or
sculpture, has to be cleared before you can use it.”1
1 Telephone interview with Davis Guggenheim, November 15, 2000. The law on the
books in this area (as distinct from what directors and lawyers working for directors think)
is “by no means certain.” See Melville B. Nimmer and David Nimmer, “Nimmer on
Copyright,” §13.05[D][3], at 13-222 (2001).
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I should point out he's a US lawyer and they are probably discussing US law - however US copyright law has been exported all over the world but I couldn't really say exactly how relevant it is to the UK.