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Copyright Law

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4.0 Duration of Copyright Protection

By Lesley Ellen Harris, Esq.

4.1 Question: Is there a simple way to determine duration of a copyright work in the U.S.?
Answer: The duration of copyright protection in the U.S. is more complicated than in other countries due in part to the fact that the length of copyright protection in the U.S. has been amended a number of times. Helpful charts to determine whether a work is in the public domain are at: http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm, and http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm. (2006-3)

4.2 Question: There is a photograph on a Web site that my organization wants to copy and paste into our Web site. There is no copyright notice on the photograph nor any information relating to copyright protection or the name of the photographer or owner of the photograph. Is the work in the public domain?
Answer: No, assume that all content on the Web is protected by copyright unless there is a statement to the opposite, or you have investigated the copyright status of the work. Even a work that does not contain a copyright symbol or other information relating to the identification of the copyright owner is presumably subject to copyright protection. (2009-1)

Full post as published by Copyrightlaws.com on June 04, 2008 (boomark / email).