Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinisajoy
US is 70 years with some exceptions.
|
With many exceptions, actually, and everything published before 1923 is PD. Here's one quick summary:
Quote:
|
All copyrightable works published in the United States before 1923 are in the public domain;[18] works created before 1978 but not published until recently may be protected until 2047.[19] For works that received their copyright before 1978, a renewal had to be filed in the work's 28th year with the Copyright Office for its term of protection to be extended. The need for renewal was eliminated by the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992, but works that had already entered the public domain by non-renewal did not regain copyright protection. Therefore, works published before 1964 that were not renewed are in the public domain.
|
Source
In addition, the
1994 GATT actually removed public domain status from some foreign works that were already PD in the United States.
Stories and articles initially or exclusively published in magazines prior to 1977 but after 1923 without the (at that time required) copyright notice fell into public domain. Stories and articles initially or exclusively published before 1963 and were not renewed, ditto. (I specify "initially or exclusively" to rule out those for which existing copyrights would have been in effect.)
An entire swath of film history is dotted with films that fell into public domain due to missing or incorrect copyright notice. (The Byrne Convention removed this requirement, but not until 1989.)