Gerard Perez has requested some clarification regarding copyright ownership
and duration under United States copyright law.

First, as to copyright ownership.  The creator of an original work or
authorship is generally considered to be the author of the work and therefore
the owner of the copyright.  The exception to this rule is the work made for
hire doctrine under which an employer is deemed to be the author and owns the
copyright of a work created by an employee within the scope of her
employment.  Under certain circumstances a work created by an independent
contractor may be deemed a work made for hire.

A copyright may be owned by a non-author only through a written assignment or
through an operation of law (such as bankruptcy or community property laws).

Second, as to the duration of a copyright.  The applicable duration rule
depends on which of three types of works and time periods are involved.  The
first category are works created on or after January 1, 1978.  For works
created by a single author, the duration is life of the author plus 50 years.
 For works created by joint authors, the duration is life of the last
surviving author plus 50 years.  For works made for hire, the duration is 100
years from creation or 75 years from publication, whichever date is earlier.

The second category are works that on 1-1-78 had not been published or
registered and, therefore, were protected by state common law copyright which
had a perpetual duration.  On 1-1-78, these works became protected by federal
copyright law.  The duration is the same as the duration for works created on
or after 1-1-78 with one exception.  Congress wanted to insure a minimum
period of protection for these works.  Therefore, the copyright in these
works will extend at least until December 31, 2002, even if the duration
computation would place a work in the public domain earlier than that date.
 If the work is published between 1-1-78 and 12-31-2002, the minimum period
of protection will be extended to 12-31-2027.  If the duration computation
results in a later date, these minimum periods of protection are not
necessary.

The third category are works that were protected by federal copyright law
prior to 1-1-78.  Federal copyright protection was obtained by (1)
registering the work with the Copyright Office; or (2) publishing the work
with a proper copyright notice.  Copyright duration for these works were 28
years for the initial term of copyright.  A renewal term of copyright was
protected for an additional 28 year period if a renewal was filed with the
Copyright Office.  For works in their renewal term of copyright protection on
1-1-78, the renewal term was automatically extended from 28 years to 47
years.  For works in their initial term of copyright on 1-1-78, an extended
47 year renewal term was made available upon the filing of a renewal with the
Copyright Office.  In 1992, renewal terms were made automatic from that date
on and required no filing with the Copyright Office.

I realize this message is fairly long, but several individuals on Museum-L
indicated they were interested in the technical rules.

Robert Lind
Professor of Law
Southwestern University School of Law
Los Angeles, CA 90005
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