overview

This profile supplements the discussion of duration in our Intellectual Property guide.

The profile is restricted to copyright protection; patent and trademark protection is generally for considerably shorter periods but in contrast to copyright is usually renewable.

     coverage of this profile

This profile has three parts -

this page highlights variations in the duration of copyright across different jurisdictions

the following page provides a snapshot of protection in Australia, where photographs for example are protected for shorter periods than artworks or graffiti created with a pen or brush

the third page deals with the public domain - ownership by everyone and no one - into which works pass because the period of protection has ceased or because they have a special status, for example US government publications. It also points to resources for identifying whether a work is in copyright, for example the WATCH (Writers, Artists & Their Copyright Holders) database.

It is indicative only and regimes in particular countries involve peculiarities such as France's provision of extra protection to account for the Second World War (which is regarded as lasting from 1939 to 1948).

     variations

The 'life plus x years' model is primarily concerned with original works; protection for published editions is often shorter.

Reciprocity means that in some countries a 'law of the shorter term' places imported books and other works in the public domain at the same time as they expire in their 'home' country, if that is a shorter time period.

Other variations affect the treatment of works created by multiple authors, works authored by organizations rather than individuals, works not published until after the author's death and imported publications.

Overall there's been a strong national and international trend to longer protection of copyright. The 1905 Australian Copyright Act, for example, offered protection for a flat 42 years or for the author's life plus 7 years. That's been progressively extended and in many instances the period is now life plus 50 years.

     Ownership v authorship

The 'life plus x years' model is tied to the life of the author of the work - for example a novelist or songwriter - and is unaffected by changes to the ownership of the copyright. When an investor buys the copyright from an author, for example, the 'life' remains that of the author - not that of the investor. That prevents a sort of perpetual copyright protection through authors transferring ownership to their grandchildren, who in turn transfer it to their great-grandchildren and ...

     None

A very small number of third world nations such as Papua New Guinea, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan are not signatories to the international copyright conventions and trade agreements, haven't enacted/implemented national laws, and haven't entered into bilateral agreements with copyright giants such as the US.

Those countries often provide no copyright protection or for a flat period of five to twelve years. Some restrict protection to local publications/authors or officially registered works.

     Life plus 25

The 1971 Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) - now primarily of historical interest after the US became a signatory to the Berne Convention - specified that copyright should run for the life of the author plus (at least) 25 years.

Most UCC signatories now have longer terms because they have subsequently signed the Berne Convention or become members of the World Trade Organization, which requires adoption of Berne's longer duration as part of the international TRIPS agreement.

     Life plus 30

Copyright in Iran lasts for the lifetime of the author plus 30 years.

     Life plus 50

The Berne Convention, described in the international framework page of the Intellectual Property guide, specifies that the term of protection for copyright is the author's life plus (a minimum of) 50 years, rounded up to the end of the calendar year.

'Life plus 50' is the standard copyright length in many countries, including Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chile, China, Egypt, El Salvador, Japan, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Thailand. There are idiosyncratic national variations. Russia for example has a life plus 50 year regime with extra duration for authors active in the 1939-45 War.

     Life plus 60

In India and Venezuela, copyright generally lasts for the author's lifetime plus 60 years.

     Life plus 70

This has become the global benchmark since it was adopted by the European Union.

The EU model has been reflected in legislation in Switzerland, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Israel, Hungary, Paraguay, Peru, Romania, Slovenia, and Turkey. Life plus 70 years is also the standard duration of copyright in the United States for many works first published after 1977. It will presumably be adopted by Australia.

Prior to the EU Directive the term of protection within EU member counties varied considerably, with a difference of 45 years between Portugal and Germany. Harmonisation of the term of protection has meant that some members have played 'catch up'. Italy, Portugal and Eire are in the process of finalising national legislation; as of early 2000 Eire's copyright regime provided for life plus 50 year protection for literary works and life plus 70 years for films, sound recordings, and musical works.

Adoption of life plus 70 years (or longer) in many countries occurred within the past decade and treatment of 'retroactive' protection (ie works that had entered the public domain but in principle would come back into protection for a few years as a resulted of the extended term) is inconsistent. Most European Union countries made the extensions retroactive, temporarily bringing works back into copyright. Such retroactivity's discussed in Paul Geller's Zombie and Once-Dead Works: Copyright Retroactivity After the E.C. Term Directive (here).

Israel extended its term of protection in 1984, moving from life plus 50 to life plus 70. That wasn't retroactive; works by authors who died before 1934 remain in the public domain.

France uniquely extends the EU period with provision for the annees de guerre: extra time for the First World War (considered to have lasted from 1914 to 1919) and the Second World War (1939 to 1948). The Matisse estate, for example, is protected for the artist's life + the EU 70 years + 5 years for WW I + 9 years for WW II. The extension was reaffirmed by French courts in two decisions during November 2001 and is likely to be challenged by the European Commission. France also adds a further 30 years for an author who "died for France".

Outside the EU the USSR has a similar provision: for the works of authors active during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) the protection is prolonged by four years

     Life plus 75

Mexico and Guatemala protect, with some exceptions, for the author's life plus 75 years.

     Life plus 80 and beyond

The duration in Colombia, again with some exceptions, is the lifetime of the author plus 80 years.

Section 301 of the UK Copyright, Designs & Patent Act of 1988 (here) granted the Hospital for Sick Children an inalienable right to receive royalties, without limitation as to duration, for "the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programming service" of James Barrie's play Peter Pan following expiry of copyright in the work on 31 December 1987.




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