When Does a Copyright Expire, So I Can Safely Copy Something?

This question is aimed at the duration of copyright.  People often want to use a photo or some other copyrighted work, and wonder how they can be sure the copyright has expired.  When a copyright expires, material can be lawfully copied. 

The current law is that copyright lasts the life of the author plus 70 years.  But a copyrighted is subject to the law that is in effect at the time it was created, and the laws have changed over the years.  Here is a simplified version of the laws that cover copyrighted material over the years, as pertains to duration:

Date of Work	Protected From	Term of Copyright
Created 1-7-78 or later	When work is fixed (tangible medium of expression)	Life of Author plus 70 yrs. or if corporate work, shorter of 95 yrs from publication or 120 yrs from creation
Published before 1923	In public domain	None
Published between 1923 and the end of 1963	When published with notice	28 yrs, renewable for 47 yrs, extendable for 20 yrs, for total of 95 yrs.  If not renewed, now in public domain
Published 1964 -1977	When published with notice	28 yrs first term, automatic extension 67 more years for second term
Created before 1-1-78 , but not published	1-1-78 , the effective date of the 1976 Act	Life of author + 70 yrs, or 12-31-2002 , whichever is greater
Created before 1-1-78 , but published between then and 12-31-02	1-1-78 , the effective date of the 1976 Act	Life of author + 70 yrs, or 2047, whichever is greater.

This link is to a Copyright office brochure on duration of copyright.

Comments

[paula byers]

how can I tell when something was copied righted? such as a old post card. thanks!

[Bob Shaver]

The place to look to find out when a work was copyrighted is Copyright Circular 22 at the Copyright office. The link to that is:

http://www.mkiplaw.com/Downloadable%20Files%5Ccirc22.pdf

[Nipper]

That link you posted is borked...try: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.pdf or http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html