[Dixielandjazz] Dixielandjazz Digest, Vol 68, Issue 15

[Stephen G Barbone]

>
> From: "Paul Gorelick" <drpag at flash.net> wrote
>
> In Levy sheet music, he says that a song written in 1928 is  
> protected.  Why
> when a copyright exists for 70 years after the death of the original  
> writer.
> 1928 plus 70 equals 1998.  It should not be protected unless I'm  
> reading it
> wrong.  Paul


Paul & List Mates:

That 70 year after death law only applies to songs written after  
1/1/1978. Here a summary of the current US Copyright Law:

United States Copyright Law
US copyright law is found in Title 17 of the United States Code and is  
administered by the US Copyright Office.   " Terms for Copyright  
Protection", a U.S. Government publication, summarizes the current  
duration of copyright protection for published works as follows:

Works created after 1/1/1978  -  life of the longest surviving author  
plus 70 years -  earliest possible PD date is 1/1/2048

Works registered before 1/1/1978  -  95 years from the date copyright  
was secured.

Works registered before 1/1/1923 - Copyright protection for 75 years  
has expired and these works are in the public domain. (This was the  
Old law that was modified as below in 1998. At the time of its  
modification by Sonny Bono, copyright protection for songs written  
before 1923 had already expired)

The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was signed into law on  
October 27, 1998.  Prior to the Sonny Bono 20 year copyright term  
extension, copyright protection for works registered before 1/1/1978  
was 75 years; therefore, compositions registered in 1922 or earlier  
entered the public domain on 1/1/1998.  The 1998 copyright extension  
did not extend copyright protection from 75 to 95 years for songs  
already in the public domain so . .

The Good News -  works published in the United States in 1922 or  
earlier are in the public domain even if  they are not yet 95 years old.

The Bad News - no new works will enter the public domain until January  
1, 2019.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband