Scope of Exclusive Rights Under Copyright

The present law has changed and enlarged in some cases the scope of the copyright owner’s rights.  The new rights apply to all uses of a work subject to protection by copyright after January 1, 1978, regardless of when the work was created.

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DURATION OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
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Works Originally Copyrighted On or After January 1, 1978

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.

Works Copyrighted Before January 1, 1978

Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with notice of copyright or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form.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.  For more detailed information on the copyright term, write or call the Copyright Office and request Circular 15a, “Duration of Copyright,” and Circular 15t, “Extension of Copyright Terms.”

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WORKS FIRST PUBLISHED BEFORE 1978:  THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE
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GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE