Thanks guys for all your contributions to this discussion …
re. Copyright Extension – this from Wikipedia (re. US legislation) says there is no ongoing extension in the USA, merely a one-off from 50 to 70 years (and longer re. corporate authorship) that occured in 1998 – seemingly to harmonise with similar EU one-off extension legislation passed earlier in the 90’s (between 1993 and 1996 it says further down the linked page). There is of course nothing to stop this (one-off extension) being enacted again from time to time.
quote from here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Bono_Copyright_Term_Extension_Act
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years. Before the act, an author’s copyright would last until fifty years after his death. After the act, an author’s copyright would last until seventy years after his death, while copyrights for works of corporate authorship would last 75 to 95 years. The act also affected copyright terms for copyrighted works published prior to January 1, 1978, increasing their term of protection by 20 years as well. This effectively ‘froze’ the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by the older fixed term copyright rules. Under this act, no additional works made in 1923 or after, that were still copyrighted in 1998, will enter the public domain until 2019. Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired. However, the act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted, and is retroactive in that sense. The act became Public Law 105-298 on October 27, 1998.
Sign In
