Editing Work for hire (section)

==Copyright duration==

===United States===
In the United States a "work for hire" (published after 1978) receives copyright protection until 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever comes first. This differs from the standard U.S. copyright term, life of the author plus 70 years, because the "author" of a work for hire is often not an actual person, in which case the standard term would be unlimited, which is unconstitutional.<ref>Peter B. Hirtle, [http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States, 1 January 2007]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120704071954/http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm |date=July 4, 2012 }}</ref> Works published prior to 1978 have no differentiation in copyright term between works made for hire and works with recognized individual creators.{{fact|date=December 2023}}

===European Union===
In the [[European Union]], even if a Member State provides for the possibility of a [[legal person]] to be the original rightholder, then the duration of protection is in general the same as the copyright term for a personal copyright: i.e., for a literary or artistic work, 70 years from the death of the human author, or in the case of works of joint authorship, 70 years from the death of the last surviving author.  If the natural author or authors are not identified, nor become known subsequently, then the copyright term is the same as that for an anonymous or pseudonymous work, i.e. 70 years from publication for a literary or artistic work; or, if the work has not been published in that time, 70 years from creation.<ref>Article 1, [[Directive harmonizing the term of copyright protection]], Directive 93/98/EC.</ref>  (Copyright durations for works created before 1993 may be subject to transitional arrangements.)<ref>In the UK see for example [[Copyright law of the United Kingdom]], and links from that page.</ref>

An exception is for scientific or critical editions of works in the public domain. Per article 70 of the German copyright law, editions as the result of scholarly or scientific analysis have a copyright length of 25 years. Therefore, the editor of an [[urtext edition|urtext score]] of an opera by Beethoven would only receive 25 years of protection, {{Citation needed span|text=but the arrangement of the full orchestral part for piano would receive a full 70 year protection – timed from the publication of the piano arrangement and not the death of the editor. Editing is a proper work-for-hire activity.|reason=what's special about editing? Editing may be work-for-hire, but it can also be done by one person. Is arrangement even classified as editing?|date=November 2012}}