WORKS FIRST PUBLISHED OR COPYRIGHTED BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 1923, AND DECEMBER 31, 1949, BUT NOT RENEWED:  If a work was first published or copyrighted between January 1, 1923, and December 31, 1949, it is important to determine whether the copyright was renewed during the last (28th) year of the first term of the copyright.  This can be done by searching the Copyright Office records or catalogs as explained previously.  If no renewal registration was made, copyright protection expired permanently at the end of the 28th year of the year date it was first secured.

WORKS FIRST PUBLISHED OR COPYRIGHTED BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 1923, AND DECEMBER 31, 1949, AND REGISTERED FOR RENEWAL:  When a valid renewal registration was made and copyright in the work was in its second term on December 31, 1977, the renewal copyright term was extended under the latest act to 67 years.  In these cases, copyright will last for a total of 95 years from the end of the year in which copyright was originally secured.  Example:  Copyright in a work first published in 1925 and renewed in 1953 will expire on December 31, 2020.

WORKS FIRST PUBLISHED OR COPYRIGHTED BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 1950, AND DECEMBER 31, 1963:  If a work was in its first 28-year term of copyright protection on January 1, 1978, it must have been renewed in a timely fashion to have secured the maximum term of copyright protection.  If renewal registration was made during the 28th calendar year of its first term, copyright would endure for 95 years from the end of the year copyright was originally secured.  If not renewed, the copyright expired at the end of its 28th calendar year.

WORKS FIRST PUBLISHED OR COPYRIGHTED BETWEEN JANUARY 1, 1964, AND DECEMBER 31, 1977:  If a work was in its first 28-year term of copyright protection on June 26, 1992, renewal registration is now optional.  The term of copyright for works published or copyrighted during this time period has been extended to 95 years by the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 and the Sonny Bono Term Extension Act of 1998.  There is no need to make the renewal filing to extend the original 28-year copyright term to the full 95 years.

However, there are several advantages to making a renewal registration during the 28th year of the original term of copyright.  If renewal registration is made during the 28th year of the original term of copyright, the renewal copyright vests in the name of the renewal claimant on the effective date of the renewal registration; the renewal certificate constitutes prima facie evidence as to the validity of the copyright during the renewed and extended term and of the facts stated in the certificate; and, the right to use the derivative work in the extended term may be affected.  Request Circular 15, “Renewal of Copyright,” for further information.

UNPUBLISHED, UNREGISTERED WORKS:  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 will expire before December 31, 2002.