Get Study 30 : Duration Of Copyright - Copyright

Generally, copyright protection lasts for the length of the author's life plus another 70 years. In the case of joint works, copyright protection lasts for the length of the life of the last surviving joint author plus another 70 years.

Under the Convention, the duration of copyright depends on the length of the author's life. Berne specifies that copyright exists a minimum of 50 years after the author's death, while a number of countries, including the European Union and the United States, have extended that to 70 years after the author's death.

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

The duration of copyright protection is governed by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. The easiest rule to state is that Copyrights have expired on all United States works registered or published prior to 1923. As a result, all such works have entered into the public domain.

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.

Under the present law statutory copyright protection begins on the date of publication (or on the date of registration in unpublished form) and continues for 28 years from that date; it may be renewed for a second 28 years, making a total potential term of 56 years in all cases.

Also known as the “35-year law,” it allows for the termination of BOTH grants of rights in post-1977 sound recordings (i.e., record contracts) AND musical compositions (publishing agreements, co-publishing agreements, administration agreements, licenses, etc.) 35 years after publication of the work.

The Berne Convention stipulates that the duration of the term for copyright protection is the life of the author plus at least 50 years after their death. For some categories of works, the minimum duration is shorter: for example, the minimum term for applied art is 25 years, movies have a minimum term of 50 years.