Duration
of Copyright
Anything
you wrote after January 1, 1978, is protected from the date of
creation to a date 70 years after your death. If you have a
co-author, it is until 70 years following the death of the last
surviving author. If you created the piece anonymously or wrote it
under a pseudonym, the work is protect for 95 years after publication
or 120 years after creation, whichever is shorter. If your material
was written prior to January 1, 1978, the original copyright is
extended to a maximum total of 95 years.
Note
that the current copyright law does not restore copyright protection
to any works already in the public domain. Going into public domain
is what happens to a work that was never copyrighted (prior to 1978),
or for which the copyright has already expired. Once in public
domain, the public is free to quote from it without having to ask
permission (although you do still give credit to the author). In
essence, it then belongs to the public—not to the author. Most
government publications are not copyrighted, so they are good sources
for research that does not require you to ask permission.
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