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dbmurray -> RE: Need Copyright Info - please (5/2/2008 9:47:03 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: danielmount
That would be really nice.
But I thought I read somewhere that (at least at some iteration of the law) after 95 years the presumption would be that it was PD unless the copyright holder could demonstrate that it was fewer than 75 years after the author's death. Or was that the post-78 rule?
There are some special rules for songs that were written prior to 1978, but not published until after 1978. Say you find a song your great-grandmother wrote in 1925 and decide to publish it. Say she died in 1950. You and the rest of your family can agree to publish it and you will hold that copyright until 2020 (70 years from her death). That's really the only time the "death of author plus 70 year" rule applies to songs written before 1978.
95 years is the fixed duration of copyright for songs written before 1978 that were still protected in 1998. In other words, there will still be songs floating around out there with a fixed duration of copyright until 2072 (1977 plus 95 years).
Here's a handy little chart.
1. Songs written and published before or during 1922 are in the public domain ("Happy Birthday" notwithstanding).
2. Songs written between 1923 and 1963 (inclusively) probably carry the 95 year term, assuming the first 28 year terms was renewed. If the first term was allowed to expire, then the song is public domain. Good luck finding out, though, because publishing companies aren't going to tell you.
3. Songs written and published between 1964 and 1977 (inclusively) carry the full 95 year term. No renewal was required.
ANY song written between 1964 and 1977 carries the full 95 year term.
Of course, they could change the law between now and then to make it even longer. It's been done before. As it currently stands, a song written in 1950 expires in 2045, regardless of when the author died. Also, it rounds off to the end of the calendar year. If a song was published in June of 1949 and renewed in 1977 for whatever the renewal terms happened to be at that time, then it now expires on December 31, 2045.
Here's a link to a more extended explanation in relatively plain, easy to grasp English: http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/duration.html
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By the way, if you were a songwriter and you really wanted to be sneaky and underhanded for future generations, you could list your heirs as co-authors. The 70 years doesn't kick in until the LAST joint author of a song dies.
Suppose that particular law had been in effect when President John Tyler was still living. Tyler had a daughter just two years before his death at the age of 72. Suppose he had written a song in 1862, the year of his death, listing the two year old Pearl Tyler as a co-writer. She died in 1947. The copyright would expire in 2017. (Did you know that John Tyler's grandson is still living?)
But it doesn't even have to be a blood relative...Gloria Gaither could write a song and list Morgan Easter as a co-writer. The copyright could last 125 years or more after Gloria's death, assuming Morgan outlives her by 55 years or more.
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