Duration of Copyright Protection in the U.S.

For further information about Copyright Investigation , read:

• Copyright Investigation
• Copyright Formalities
• Copyright Notice
• Date in the Copyright Notice
• Copyright and the Public Domain
• Publishing before 1978: U.S. Copyright Notice
• Derivative Works and Copyright
• Name in the Copyright Notice
• Ad Interim copyright

In the United States, a work that is created and fixed in tangible form for the first
time on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70
years after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s
death. For works made for hire and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in the Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright
will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is less.

Works created before the 1976 law came into effect but neither published nor registered for copyright before January 1, 1978, have been automatically brought under the
statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works will generally be computed in the same way as for new works: the life-plus-70 or
95/120-year terms will apply. However, all works in this category are guaranteed at least 25 years of statutory protection.

Under the United States copyright law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured
either on the date a work was published with notice of copy right or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date on which it was secured.

During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The copyright law extends the renewal term from 28 to 67 years for copyrights in existence
on January 1, 1978.

However, for works copyrighted prior to January 1, 1964, the copyright still must have been renewed in the 28th calendar year to receive the 67-year period of added protection.

The amending legislation enacted June 26, 1992, automatically extends this second term for works first copyrighted between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977.

Before 1978, if a work had been neither “published” in the legal sense nor registered
in the Copyright Office, it was subject to perpetual protection under the Common law . On January 1, 1978, all works of this kind, subject to protection by copyright, were automatically brought under the federal copyright statute. The duration of
copyright for these works can vary, but none of them expired before December 31, 2002.

Author: admin

Author: admin