The Librarian's Copyright Companion/Appendix P

by James S. Heller, Paul Hellyer, and Benjamin J. Keele

Appendix P

Copyright Term and the
Public Domain in the
United States (2012)^[1]

Never Published, Never Registered Works
Type of Work	Copyright Term	What was in the public domain in the U.S. as of 1 January 2012
Unpublished works	Life of the author + 70 years	Works for authors who died before 1942
Unpublished anonymous and pseudonymous works, and works made for hire (corporate authorship)	120 years from date of creation	Works created before 1892
Unpublished works when the death date of the author is not known	120 years from date of creation	Works created before 1892
Works Registered or First Published in the U.S.
Date of Publication	Conditions	Copyright Term
Before 1923	None	None. In the public domain due to copyright expiration.
1923 through 1977	Published without a copyright notice	None. In the public domain due to failure to comply with required formalities.
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published without notice, and without subsequent registration within 5 years	None. In the public domain due to failure to comply with required formalities.
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published without notice, but with subsequent registration within 5 years	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.
1923 through 1963	Published with notice but copyright was not renewed	None. In the public domain due to copyright expiration.
1923 through 1963	Published with notice and the copyright was renewed	95 years after publication date
1964 through 1977	Published with notice	95 years after publication date
1978 to 1 March 1989	Created after 1977 and published with notice	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.
1978 to 1 March 1989	Created before 1978 and first published with notice in the specified period	The greater of the term specified in the previous entry or 31 December 2047
From 1 March 1989 through 2002	Created after 1977	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
From 1 March 1989 through 2002	Created before 1978 and first published in this period	The greater of the term specified in the previous entry or 31 December 2047
After 2002	None	70 years after the death of author. If a work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first
Anytime	Works prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties	None. In the public domain in the United States (17 U.S.C. § 105)
Works First Published Outside the U.S. by Foreign Nationals or U.S. Citizens Living Abroad
Date of Publication	Conditions	Copyright Term in the United States
Before 1923	None	In the public domain (But see first special case below)
1923 through 1977	Published without compliance with U.S. formalities, and in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996	In the public domain
1923 through 1977	Published in compliance with all U.S. formalities (i.e., notice, renewal)	95 years after publication date
1923 through 1977	Solely published abroad, without compliance with U.S. formalities or republication in the U.S., and not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996	95 years after publication date
1923 through 1977	Published in the U.S. less than 30 days after publication abroad	Use the U.S. publication chart to determine duration
1923 through 1977	Published in the U.S. more than 30 days after publication abroad, without compliance with U.S. formalities, and not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 January 1996	95 years after publication date
1 January 1978–1 March 1989	Published without copyright notice, and in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996	In the public domain
1 January 1978–1 March 1989	Published without copyright notice in a country that is a signatory to the Berne Convention is not in the public domain in its source country as of 1 January 1996	70 years after the death of the author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
1 January 1978–1 March 1989	Published with copyright notice by a non-U.S. citizen in a country that was party to the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)	70 years after the death of the author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
After 1 March 1989	Published in a country that is a Signatory to the Berne Convention	70 years after the death of the author, or if work of corporate authorship, 95 years from publication
After 1 March 1989	Published in a country with which the United States does not have copyright relations under a treaty	In the public domain
Sound Recordings (Note: The following information applies only to the sound recording itself, and not to any copyrights in underlying compositions or texts)
Unpublished Sound Recordings, Domestic and Foreign
Date of Fixation/Publication	Conditions	What was in the public domain in the U.S. as of 1 January 2012
Prior to 15 Feb. 1972	Indeterminate	Subject to state common law protection. Enters the public domain on 15 Feb. 2067
After 15 Feb. 1972	Life of the author + 70 years. For unpublished anonymous and pseudonymous works and works made for hire (corporate authorship), 120 years from the date of fixation	Nothing. The soonest anything enters the public domain is 15 Feb. 2067
Unpublished works when the death date of the author is not known	120 years from date of creation	Works created before 1892
Sound Recordings Published in the United States
Fixed prior to 15 Feb. 1972	None	Subject to state statutory and/or common law protection. Fully enters the public domain on 15 Feb. 2067
15 Feb. 1972 to 1978	Published without notice (i.e., phonorecord symbol, year of publication, and name of copyright owner)	In the public domain
15 Feb. 1972 to 1978	Published with notice	95 years from publication. 2068 at the earliest
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published without notice, and without subsequent registration	In the public domain
1978 to 1 March 1989	Published with notice	70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation. 2049 at the earliest
After 1 March 1989	None	70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation. 2049 at the earliest
Sound Recordings Published Outside the United States
Prior to 1923	None	Subject to state statutory and/or common law protection. Fully enters the public domain on 15 Feb. 2067
1923 to 1 March 1989	In the public domain in its home country as of 1 Jan. 1996 or there was U.S. publication within 30 days of the foreign publication	Subject to state common law protection. Enters the public domain on 15 Feb. 2067
1923 to 15 Feb. 1972	Not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 Jan. 1996. At least one author of the work was not a U.S. citizen or was living abroad, and there was no U.S. publication within 30 days of the foreign publication	Enters public domain on 15 Feb. 2067
15 Feb. 1972 to 1978	Not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 Jan. 1996. At least one author of the work was not a U.S. citizen or was living abroad, and there was no U.S. publication within 30 days of the foreign publication	95 years from date of publication, 2068 at the earliest
1978 to 1 March 1989	Not in the public domain in its home country as of 1 Jan. 1996. At least one author of the work was not a U.S. citizen or was living abroad, and there was no U.S. publication within 30 days of the foreign publication	70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 from creation
After 1 March 1989	None	70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 from creation
Architectural Works
Date of Design	Date of Construction	Copyright Status
Prior to 1 Dec. 1990	Not constructed by 31 Dec. 2002	Protected only as plans or drawings
Prior to 1 Dec. 1990	Constructed by 1 Dec. 1990	Protected only as plans or drawings
Prior to 1 Dec. 1990	Constructed between 30 Nov. 1990 and 31 Dec. 2002	Building is protected for 70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 after publication, or 120 years from creation
From 1 Dec. 1990	Immaterial	Building is protected for 70 years after death of author, or if work of corporate authorship, the shorter of 95 after publication, or 120 years from creation

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1. Abridged from Peter Hirtle, “Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States,” available at http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm. Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Footnotes and special cases omitted.