HOW LONG COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ENDURES
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html#hlc
Works Originally Created On or After January 1, 1978
A work that is created (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 50 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 50 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 Copyright Office records), the
duration of copyright
will be 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation,
whichever is
shorter.
Works Originally Created Before January 1, 1978, But Not
Published or
Registered by That Date
These works 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 works
created on or after
January 1, 1978: the life-plus-50 or 75/100-year terms will
apply to them as
well. The law provides that in no case will the term of
copyright for works
in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for
works published on
or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not
expire before
December 31, 2027.
Works Originally Created and Published or Registered Before
January 1, 1978
Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured
either on the
date a work was published or on the date of registration if
the work was
registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright
endured for a
first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During
the last (28th)
year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for
renewal. The current
copyright law has extended the renewal term from 28 to 47
years for
copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, making
these works
eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years.
Public Law 102-307, enacted on June 26, 1992, amended the
1976 Copyright Act
to extend automatically the term of copyrights secured
between January 1,
1964, and December 31, 1977, to the further term of 47 years.
Although the
renewal term is automatically provided, the Copyright Office
does not issue
a renewal certificate for these works unless a renewal
application and fee
are received and registered in the Copyright Office.
P.L.102-307 makes renewal registration optional. There is no
need to make
the renewal filing in order to extend the original 28-year
copyright term to
the full 75 years. However, some benefits accrue from making
a renewal
registration during the 28th year of the original term.
For more detailed information on renewal of copyright and the
copyright
term, request Circular 15, "Renewal of Copyright"; Circular
15a, "Duration
of Copyright"; and Circular 15t, "Extension of Copyright
Terms."
volente Deo,
Anthony Dauer
The Poeticus Furor Café¼¢r> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/4640/
Writers-cafe: A place to share your work or just to chat with
other writers
about anything.
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/writers-cafe
Practice random acts of Xeroxing ...
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca [mailto:owner-rara-avis@icomm.ca]On
Behalf Of Philip Benz
Sent: Friday, February 26, 1999 6:43 PM
To: rara-avis@icomm.ca
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: The Maltese Falcon / teaching
<< It's still under copyright, so anyone making
available such a thing
would get into trouble. >>
The copyright doesn't expire until 75 years after the
author's death,
right? That would make it about... 2036.
Sorry to query the list about illegal activities.
Speaking of copyright: I'm completing a website using the TMF
materials
I've been developing for the classroom, and naturally I
intended to
liven it up with pics I've gleaned off of other websites
devoted to TMF
and film noir in general. Is there going to be an ethical
problem with
my including these pics? [he asked, innocently]
"If you lose a son, you can always get another. But there is
only one
Maltese Falcon."
Cheers, --- Phil, who can't get that line out of his
head,
Lycee Astier, Aubenas, France
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