I received a question in my forum concerning creating ebooks from previously published works. Specifically, the question was - “However, before I do make my ebooks available, do I need to check anything regarding copyright of the originals or if the original books have since been re-published etc? ”

In essence the question is how long does copyright protection last. The US Copyright Office’s website answers the question for us. We have three separate categories.

1. For Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

- Automatic copyright protection applies to works created on or after this date and extends for a period of the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death.

- For a work created by 2 or more authors, protection extends for 70 years after the last author’s death.

- For anonymous or pseudonymous works, protection is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

2. For Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date

- same rules as above except “that in no case would the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047.”

3. For Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978 - Here’s where it gets a bit confusing

- The pre 1978 law stated that “copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form.” In either case, copyright lasted 28 years from the date secured. During the 28th year, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The renewal term was for 28 years.

In 1976, the renewal term became 47 years for copyrights that existed on January 1, 1978 and for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.

For copyrights that still existed as of October 27, 1998, an additional renewal term of 20 years was added.

Did the author have to apply for renewal or was it automatic for these works? In 1976 the Copyright Act was amended to allow for automatic renewal of copyrights for copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977. This same law makes renewal registration optional, so these 1964-1978 works are usually protected for a 95 year period. For pre 1964 works, you would have to determine if the author applied for renewal.

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