The fundamentals of Copyrights – Registration and Duration

Although many types of “creative” and “original” Works are deemed to have copyright protection from the instant that the Work is done and “fixed in any tangible place”, in order for the owner within the copyright to receive greater rights and increase their own her ability to protect those rights the Work should be registered.

The United States Copyright Office is a division of the United States Department of Commerce. Registering with this office will greatly enhance the copyright owner’s ability to seek various types of damages if the copyright may be infringed upon by the outside party. One should seek legal advice before looking for registering a copyrighted Work, as it should be determined whether the Efforts are copyrightable, i.e. the kind of Work for which a registration can be ordered. Simply applying to register a copyright does not necessarily imply the work in question for you is copyrightable.

The duration of copyrights varies from what type of labor is in question as well as when it was created or registered. A piece that was created on or after January 1, 1978 is protected from the time it is created, usually for the author’s life plus 70 years system author’s death. For “a joint work prepared by more than one authors who would not work for hire,” the term stands for 70 years pursuing the death of last surviving author.

The copyright term for works created and published or registered before January 1, 1978 may be the same as for any created on or after January 1, 1978, namely, life of the author plus 70 years. The 95/120-year terms for works for hire apply to pre January 1, 1978 to these works also. However, the phrase of copyright of these works cannot expire before December 31, 2002. For works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before December 31, 2047.

A “work made for hire” is one prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment probably a work specially ordered or commissioned Documents required for Copyright Registration in India several types of use use such as a contribution to a collective work, a necessary part of a movie or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation as well as instructional text if for example the parties agree written down instrument that activity will be considered a work constantly hire.

The copyright term for works since that time hire and anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records) is either 95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter.

As with all areas of Copyright and Intellectual Property Law, it is better to consult with an attorney at law that specializes in this field. A number of law schools offer what is known as a Masters of Intellectual Property degree and the advice of an attorney with this involving scholarship can be essential from now a work is reached all the way through the enforcement or recovery any specific infringement.

This article designed for informational purposes only. It need not be construed as legal advice and readers are inspired to consult a qualified attorney regarding these things.