Although many types of “creative” and “original” Works are deemed to have copyright protection from the event that the Work created and “fixed in any tangible place”, in order for the owner of the copyright to receive greater rights and increase or perhaps 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 recently been infringed upon by a third party. One should seek legal advice before trying to obtain registering a copyrighted Work, as it should be determined whether the Job is copyrightable, i.e. the form of Work for which a registration can be obtained. 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 is created or registered. A piece that was created on or after January 1, 1978 is protected out of your time it is created, usually for that author’s life plus 70 years system author’s death. For “a joint work prepared by a couple of authors who don’t work for hire,” the term is for 70 years marriage ceremony 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 those created on or after January 1, 1978, namely, lifetime 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 term of copyright due to 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 produced for hire” is one prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment as well as a work specially ordered or commissioned for several types of use use such as the contribution to a collective work, a part of a movie or other audiovisual work, a translation, a supplementary work, a compilation and even instructional text if the parties agree written instrument that the work will be considered a work designed for hire.
The copyright term for works made for hire and anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Sound Recording Copyright Registration in India Office records) is either 95 years out from the date of publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever is shorter.
As with every area of Copyright and Intellectual Property Law, it is advisable to consult with your lawyer that specializes of this type. 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 the event a work is actually created all the way through the enforcement or recovery any specific infringement.
This article designed for informational purposes only. It should never be construed as legal advice and readers are asked to consult a qualified attorney regarding these things.