Copyright FAQs
Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture.
Copyright covers works of sufficient creativity and originality. Patents cover inventions, devices, formulas, tools or "anything that has utility." There are design patents and utility patents which offer limited duration property rights relating to patentable inventions. A trademark is a word, phrase or logo, that uniquely identifies a product or service.
In the United States, the general rule is the life of the author plus 70 years. If it is an anonymous work or belongs to a corporate author then the term is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation - whichever is shorter. This applies to works created after January 1st, 1978. Works created prior to 1978 have varying terms.
Most works created prior to 1923 are in the public domain. For more detail about copyright terms in the United States see the Cornell University Library guide. Works published outside of the United States will be covered by that country’s copyright laws.
Copyright laws differ from country to country. This also means that copyright exceptions enjoyed in the United States are not always internationally enforceable.