HOW LONG IS A WORK
COVERED BY COPYRIGHT PROTECTION?

A simple answer to this question does not exist. The following table lists the rules that govern most situations in the United States.

Creation/publication date	Duration of copyright protection
Works created by an individual	The life of the author plus 70
named author in or after 1978.	years.
Works created by an anonymous,	The earliest of 95 years from
pseudonymous or corporate	publication or 120 years from
author, or as work for hire, in or	creation.
after 1978.
Unpublished works created before	The later of either 70 years after
1978 that remain unpublished.	the death of the author or
	December 31, 2002.
Unpublished works created before	December 31, 2047.
1978 that are published by the
copyright owner by the end of 2002.
Works published after 1922 and	Ninety-five years from original
before 1978 with appropriate	publication.
copyright notice and renewals.
Works created and published	The copyright has expired.
before 1923.

Table adapted from Copyright Law & Graduate Research, UMI Publishing, [http://www.umi.com/hp/Support/DExplorer/copyrght/Part3.html].