The way that copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure a copyright under the law. Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is created when it is fixed in a copy or imaging recording for the first time. In general, copies are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. Phonograph records are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture sound tracks), such as audio tapes and phonograph disks. Thus, for example, a song (the work ) can be fixed in sheet music (copies) or in audio recordings, or both.

Notice of Copyright

When a work is published under the authority of the copyright owner, a notice of copyright should be placed on all publicly distributed copies. This notice is required even on works published outside of the United States. Omission or errors will not necessarily result in forfeiture of the copyright. Therefore, just because a copyrightable material does not have a copyright notice does not mean it is not copyrighted. However, infringers misled by the omission or error of copyright notice will be shielded from liability.

How Long Copyright Protection Lasts

The copyright law changed in 1978. The time that the copyright on original material expires is determined by when it was created.

WORKS ORIGINALLY COPYRIGHTED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 1978. A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation. It is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author's life, plus an additional 50 years after the author's death. In the case of a joint work prepared by two or more authors that did not work for hire, the term lasts for 50 years after the last surviving author's death. For works made for hire and for anonymous and pseudonymous (fictitious name) works (unless the author's identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright is 75 years from publication or 100 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works that were created before the 1978 law came into effect, but were neither published nor registered for copyright before January 1, 1978, have been automatically brought under the statute and are now provided federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright for these works is generally computed in the same way as for new works: the life plus 50 and the 75 or 100 year terms apply to them as well. However, all works in this category are guaranteed at least 25 years of statutory protection.

WORKS COPYRIGHTED BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1978. Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The new copyright law has extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were still in existence on January 1, 1978.

International Copyright Protection

There is no such thing as an international copyright that will automatically protect an author's writings throughout the entire world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends, basically, on the national laws of that country. However, most countries do offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions, and these conditions have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions.

The United States is a member of the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). Generally, a work by a national or resident of a country that is a member of the UCC, or a work first published in a UCC country, may claim protection under the UCC.

Works of the United States Government

Works produced for the U. S. Government by its officers and employees as part of their official duties are not subject to U.S. copyright protection. The law makes it clear that this prohibition applies to unpublished works as well as published ones.