Validity of a Copyright

Once you have registered your copyright, the validity depends on a lot of things including whether the work was published or unpublished, the year of publishing and the type of author. E.g. If an individual author's work is published after 2002 then the copyright expires 70 years after the author's death.

  • If a corporation owns and publishes the work, then the copyright expires 95 years from date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever comes first.
  • Copyright in case of literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work = Lifetime + 60 years after the death of the author
  • In case of joint ownership, the period of 60 yrs would be calculated from the death of the last of the last surviving author.
  • Cinematograph films, photographs, computer programs are protected for 60 years from the end of the year in which the work is made public with the consent of the copyright owner.
  • Work no longer protected under copyright or created by any government office for civil use is considered in the "public domain" and may be used freely.

Get your copyright registered by us in very simple steps. To know more visit Quick Company.

Related Articles