| | Through the ''Berne Convention Implementation Act'', (effective March 1, 1989) copyright is automatic; no registration is needed and it is not necessary to display a © notice to be copyright protected.<ref>[http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html Definitions. U.S. Copyright Office.]</ref> | | Through the ''Berne Convention Implementation Act'', (effective March 1, 1989) copyright is automatic; no registration is needed and it is not necessary to display a © notice to be copyright protected.<ref>[http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html Definitions. U.S. Copyright Office.]</ref> |
| | A very useful chart (substitute 1926 for 1923, as of Jan. 1, 2021): [http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States.] by Peter B. Hirtle. (Last updated 3 January 2014). Cornell Copyright Information Center <ref>[http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/ Cornell Copyright Information Center.]</ref> | | A very useful chart (substitute 1926 for 1923, as of Jan. 1, 2021): [http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States.] by Peter B. Hirtle. (Last updated 3 January 2014). Cornell Copyright Information Center <ref>[http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/ Cornell Copyright Information Center.]</ref> |
| | [[File:Copyrights PD US table.png]] A chart of the copyright durations of US works, by Jappalang. | | [[File:Copyrights PD US table.png]] A chart of the copyright durations of US works, by Jappalang. |
| | On 1 March 1989, the U.S. Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 was enacted, and the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, making the United States a party to the Berne Convention. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation to bring United States laws into conformity with the Bern treaty. [http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/summary_berne.html Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.] In the United States, determining whether a work has entered the public domain or is still under copyright can be quite complex, primarily because copyright terms have been extended multiple times and in different ways—shifting over the course of the 20th century from a fixed-term based on first publication, with a possible renewal term, to a term extending to fifty, then seventy, years after the death of the author. [http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf US Copyright Office, Copyright Basics.] | | On 1 March 1989, the U.S. Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 was enacted, and the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, making the United States a party to the Berne Convention. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation to bring United States laws into conformity with the Bern treaty. [http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/summary_berne.html Summary of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.] In the United States, determining whether a work has entered the public domain or is still under copyright can be quite complex, primarily because copyright terms have been extended multiple times and in different ways—shifting over the course of the 20th century from a fixed-term based on first publication, with a possible renewal term, to a term extending to fifty, then seventy, years after the death of the author. [http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf US Copyright Office, Copyright Basics.] |