RE: length of company copyrights

["John T. Mitchell" <John@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Cornett, Cheryl L. asks:

>  If copyright lasts for life + 70 years for individuals, what 
>  is the length of copyright for a company who owns a copyright?
>  
>  Also, does life + 70 apply to existing copyrights prior to 
>  passage of this revision to the law?

The length of copyright does not change based upon who owns it.  So, the
length of copyright for the company that owns it remains life of the
author + 70.  If the work is by an anonymous or pseudonymous author, or
if it is a work made for hire, it is 95 years from publication or 120
years from creation, whichever comes first.  But even so, if the
identity of one of the authors is revealed in the registration records,
it reverts back to life (of that author) + 70.  I guess it would be a
cute trick for a company whose work for hire or anonymous work is about
to reach the 95-year term to reveal the identify of the contributing
author who lived the longest if that life + 70 would push the expiration
back beyond the 95 years. 

As for existing copyrights, a lot may depend upon when they came into
existence (See Section 304 of the Copyright Act), but generally
speaking, if the copyright had not expired when the Sonny Bono Copyright
Term Extension Act came into existence, the term is 95 years from the
time the copyright was secured.

John
http://interactionlaw.com