Copyright Term

A copyright term is the period of legal protection granted to a copyrighted work. When it expires, the work generally enters the public domain, subject to other rights and exceptions.

Copyright duration rules: Legal rules that set how long copyright protection lasts for different works and rights holders. These rules calculate the term and vary by jurisdiction, authorship, and publication history.
Life plus 70 years: A copyright duration rule that generally lasts for an author's lifetime and 70 years after death. This is the standard term for many authorial works in the European Union and United States.
Public-domain day: The date on which works whose copyright terms expired at the end of the previous year become publicly usable in a jurisdiction. Annual public-domain releases make term expiration visible through newly available works.
Copyright extension: A legislative change that lengthens the duration of copyright protection. Extensions postpone public-domain entry for works still protected when the law changes.
Copyright term debate: The policy dispute over how long copyright protection should last and whom its duration should benefit. The debate weighs creator incentives against delayed access and reuse.
Copyright restoration: The reinstatement of copyright in works that had entered the public domain or lacked protection under earlier law. Restoration can make a work protected again despite its apparent passage into the public domain.
Work-for-hire copyright: A copyright arrangement in which an employer or commissioning party is treated as the author under specified conditions. Its term is commonly measured from publication or creation, not an individual author's death.
Orphan works: Copyrighted works whose rights holders cannot be identified or located despite a diligent search. Uncertainty about ownership can prevent use even when a work's term may be near expiration.
Public domain in the United States: Works and subject matter that are free of copyright restrictions under United States law. U.S. term rules determine which works enter the public domain and when.
Copyright and creativity: The relationship between copyright rules and the creation, distribution, and adaptation of creative works. Evidence about incentives informs whether longer terms produce additional creative work.

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