Updates:
As of 2009.
Note: Updated with the provisions under the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act.
Note: Updated a subtlety introduced by CTEA for works in the 1923 – 1978 period that were still copyright in 1998.
Note: Updated extension term; it’s an extra 67 years, not 28.
Note: Updated for the 1992 act that automatically extended copyrights in 1964 and onwards.
Warnings:
This is not a legal resource. Do no use this as a legal resource or in court cases or to defend yourself legally. Do not cite this article in your legal documents. Yes, even in lawyer school do not cite this article.
Also, even if something is not under copyright in the United States of America, it may still be under copyright elsewhere in the world. In fact, now that Project Gutenberg has cleared quite a lot of classics, this is almost certainly the case.
You have been warned.
Scope of this Article
Purpose: Is a piece of work under copyright in the United States of America?
Works this applies to: Written work internationally.
The Steps
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Steps to check:
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Is the copyright year of the work 1978 or later?
If the answer is yes, then the work is most likely under U.S. copyright. Please go to step 7.
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Is the copyright year of the work 1923 or earlier?
If the answer is yes, then U.S. copyright with regard to the work has expired.
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Is the copyright year between 1923 and 1978?
If the answer is yes, the work may still be under U.S. copyright. Please continue to the next step.
If the answer is no, please see the previous steps. And put that glass of whiskey/rum/gin down.
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Add 28 years to the copyright of the work.
If the result is less than 1998, the work may still be under U.S. copyright. Please go to the next step.
If the result is greater than or equal to 1998, the work is mostly likely still under U.S. copyright. Please go to step 7.
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Is the work listed in the Copyright Renewal Database?
If the answer is no, and the copyright year is before 1964, then U.S. copyright with regard to the work has expired.
Otherwise, the work may still be under U.S. copyright. Please continue to step 7.
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Add 28 years + 67 years extension (a total of 95 years) to the copyright of the work.
If the result is less than 1998, then U.S. copyright with regard to the work has expired.
If the result is greater than or equal to 1998, the work is most likely under U.S. copyright. Please continue to step 7.
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Do the following math:
- Add 70 years to the death of the author. If the author is not dead, then the work is under U.S. copyright and you can stop here.
- Add 120 years to the year of the work’s creation.
- Add 95 years to the year of the work’s first publication.
Take the earliest year of these three calculations. If the current year after that year?
If the answer is yes, then U.S. copyright with regard to the work has expired.
If the answer is no, then the work is under U.S. copyright.
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Double-check your work with an actual legal reference, like the legal resources on the U.S. Copyright Office Website. For instance, the Duration of Copyright Circular.
Examples
Case 1
- Original copyright: 1943. This falls under step 3, so we move to step 4.
- Adding 28 years, we get: 1971. This is before 1998, so we move to step 5.
- We look in the Copyright Renewal Database. The work is not present.
Conclusion: U.S. copyright has expired on this work.
Case 2
- Original copyright: 1970. This falls under step 3, so we move to step 4.
- Adding 28 years, we get: 1998. This is on or after 1998, so we move to step 6, skipping over step 5 (the Copyright Renewal Database check).
- Doing the math:
- The author died in 1988. Adding 70 years results in 2058.
- The work’s original creation: we dunno. Assuming it’s actually 1970, adding 120 years results in 2090.
- Adding 95 years to the work’s copyright date results in 2065.
Taking the earliest date, this work’s copyright lasts through the year 2058.
Conclusion: this work is still under U.S. copyright as of 2009, and copyright expires in 2059.
Spontaneous ∂erivation 