Editing Copyright (section)

===Duration===<!-- This section is linked from [[Little Nemo]] -->
{{Main|Copyright term |List of countries' copyright length }}
[[File:Extended Tom Bell's graph showing extension of U.S. copyright term over time.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Expansion of US copyright law (currently based on the date of creation or publication)]]
Copyright subsists for a variety of lengths in different jurisdictions. The length of the term can depend on several factors, including the type of work (e.g. musical composition, novel), whether the work has been [[Publication|published]], and whether the work was created by an individual or a corporation. In most of the world, the default length of copyright is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years. In the United States, the term for most existing works is a fixed number of years after the date of creation or publication. Under most countries' laws (for example, the United States<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode |17 |305 }}</ref> and the United Kingdom<ref>The Duration of Copyright and Rights in Performances Regulations 1995, [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19953297_en_3.htm part II], Amendments of the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988</ref>), copyrights expire at the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire.

The length and requirements for copyright duration are subject to change by legislation, and since the early 20th century there have been a number of adjustments made in various countries, which can make determining the duration of a given copyright somewhat difficult. For example, the United States used to require copyrights to be [[Copyright renewal in the United States|renewed]] after 28 years to stay in force, and formerly required a copyright notice upon first publication to gain coverage. In Italy and France, there were post-wartime extensions that could increase the term by approximately 6 years in Italy and up to about 14 in France. Many countries have extended the length of their copyright terms (sometimes retroactively). International treaties establish minimum terms for copyrights, but individual countries may enforce longer terms than those.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Copyright: Sacred Text, Technology, and the DMCA |last=Nimmer |first=David |publisher=Kluwer Law International |year=2003 |isbn=978-90-411-8876-2 |oclc=50606064 |page=63 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYfRCNxgPO4C |via=Google Books }}</ref>

In the United States, all books and other works, except for sound recordings, published before 1929 have expired copyrights and are in the public domain. The applicable date for sound recordings in the United States is before 1923.<ref>"[http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States]"., ''[[Cornell University]]''.</ref> In addition, works published before 1964 that did not have their copyrights renewed 28 years after first publication year also are in the public domain. Hirtle points out that the great majority of these works (including 93% of the books) were not renewed after 28 years and are in the public domain.<ref>See Peter B. Hirtle, "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States 1 January 2015" [https://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm online at footnote 8] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226112433/http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm |date=26 February 2015 }}</ref> Books originally published outside the US by non-Americans are exempt from this renewal requirement, if they are still under copyright in their home country.

But if the intended exploitation of the work includes publication (or distribution of derivative work, such as a film based on a book protected by copyright) outside the US, the terms of copyright around the world must be considered. If the author has been dead more than 70 years, the work is in the public domain in most, but not all, countries.

In 1998, the length of a copyright in the United States was increased by 20 years under the ''[[Copyright Term Extension Act]]''. This legislation was the subject of substantial criticism following allegations that the bill was strongly promoted by corporations which had valuable copyrights which otherwise would have expired.<ref>Lawrence Lessig, ''Copyright's First Amendment'', 48 UCLA L. Rev. 1057, 1065 (2001)</ref>