Fundamentals of Copyrights – Registration and Duration
Although many types of “creative” and “original” Works are deemed to have copyright protection from and once that the Work is generated and “fixed in any tangible place”, in order for the owner from the copyright to receive greater rights and increase their her ability to protect those rights the Work should be registered.
The United States Copyright Office is a division of the United States Department of Commerce. Registering with this office will greatly enhance the copyright owner’s ability to seek various types of damages if the Online Copyright Registration Symbol may be infringed upon by another party. One should seek legal advice before applying for registering a copyrighted Work, as it should be determined whether the Job is copyrightable, i.e. the type of Work for which a registration can be purchased. Simply applying to register a copyright does not necessarily mean the work in question is copyrightable.
The duration of copyrights varies from what type of work is in question as well as when it was created or registered. A work that was created on or after January 1, 1978 is protected for this time it is created, usually for that author’s life plus 70 years following an author’s death. For “a joint work prepared by a couple of authors who does not work for hire,” the term stands for 70 years since the death of last surviving author.
The copyright term for works created and published or registered before January 1, 1978 is the same as for all those created on or after January 1, 1978, namely, lifetime of the author plus 70 years. The 95/120-year terms for works for hire apply to pre January 1, 1978 to these works also. However, phrase of copyright for these works cannot expire before December 31, 2002. For works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before December 31, 2047.
A “work meant for hire” is one prepared by a member of staff within the scope of his or her employment as well as a work specially ordered or commissioned for certain types of use use such being a contribution to a collective work, a necessary part of a flick or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation or perhaps an instructional text if for example the parties agree in making instrument that perform will be considered a work made for hire.
The copyright term for works since that time hire and anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records) is either 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter.
As with every area of Copyright and Intellectual Property Law, it is far better consult with your lawyer that specializes in this area. A number of law schools offer what is in order to as a Masters of Intellectual Property degree and the advice of an attorney with this amount of scholarship can be essential from the minute a work created from all the way through the enforcement or recovery virtually any infringement.
This article designed for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and readers are inspired to consult a qualified attorney regarding these tips.
