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| Unpublished works | Life of the author + 70 years | Works for authors who died before 1942 |
| Unpublished anonymous and pseudonymous works, and works made for hire (corporate authorship) | 120 years from date of creation | Works created before 1892 |
| Unpublished works when the death date of the author is not known | 120 years from date of creation | Works created before 1892 |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. |
- ↑ 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.
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