Economy > Intellectual property > Copyright > Copyright duration based on publication and creation dates: Countries Compared
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- Copyright duration based on publication and creation dates
DEFINITION:
This stat compares the copyright duration of an original intellectual creation for several special cases, such as posthomous and anonymous and psudonymous works, audiovisual creations -such as movies and music albums- or new editions of previously published works. Once the copyright term expires, the work becomes public domain, and therefore can be freely used by anyone.
| COUNTRY | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 50 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Albania | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Algeria | 50 years from publication; 50 years from creation if unpublished (collective work, anonymous or pseudonymous work, audiovisual work, posthumous work) |
| Andorra | 70 years from publication; 70 years from creation if unpublished (collective work with unknown authorship) |
| Anguilla | 50 years from the death of the author, of the last surviving author for works with more than one author. |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 50 years from publication; 50 years from creation if unpublished (anonymous or pseudonymous work, computer generated work, sound recording or film) |
| Argentina | 50 years from publication (anonymous intellectual works belonging to institutions, corporations or legal persons) Photographies: 20 years from first publication. Cinematographic works: 50 years after death of the last survivor among the producer, the director, the screenplay writer or the composer (for musical comedies). |
| Armenia | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous works) |
| Austria | 70 years from publication; 70 years from creation if unpublished (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Azerbaijan | 50 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work; posthumous work published at first time during 30 years) |
| Bahrain | 50 calendar years from publication (cinematographic films, applied arts works and photographs; anonymous or pseudonymous works; corporate works; posthumous works) |
| Barbados | 50 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous works) |
| Belarus | 50 years from publication or if unpublished 50 years from creation (anonymous or pseudonymous works) |
| Burundi | 50 years from publication (phonograms) |
| Canada | For anonymous works, 50 years from publication or 75 years from creation, whichever is shorter. |
| Colombia | 80 years from publication (cinematographic works) |
| Czech Republic | 70 years from publication (anonymous works) |
| Djibouti | 25 years from publication or if unpublished 25 years from completion (film) |
| Estonia | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous works) |
| Finland | 50 years from publication (sound recordings, television broadcasts and sound broadcasts) |
| France | 70 years from publication (pseudonymous, anonymous or collective works) |
| Germany | 25 years from first publication or first public performance if copyright has expired before such publication or performance, or if the work has never been protected in Germany and the author died more than 70 years before the first publication |
| Greece | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous works) |
| Guatemala | 75 years from publication or if unpublished 75 years from creation (computer programs and collective works; anonymous or pseudonymous works; audiovisual works) |
| Honduras | 70 years from publication or, if unpublished within 50 years, 70 years from creation (works of applied art and photographs) |
| Hong Kong | 50 years from publication or if unpublished 50 years from creation (literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works with unknown authorship) |
| India | 60 years from publication (posthumous works, photographs, cinematograph films, sound recordings, works of public undertakings, and works of international organisations) |
| Iran | 30 years from publication (photographic or cinematographic works) |
| Israel | Pre-2007: Crown Law: Art. 21, Copyright, Act (Consolidation), 16/12/1911 </ref> |
| Italy | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Japan | 70 years from publication or if unpublished 70 years from creation (cinematographic works) |
| Kenya | 50 years from the latest of creation or publication (audio-visual works and photographs) |
| Laos | 50 years after making available. Also: Anonymous/pseudonymous work: 50 years from the date the work was made available to the public; Cinematographic work: 50 years from making available, failing that, 50 years from making; Applied art: 25 years from date of creation. Related: Performances, phonograms, broadcasts: 50 years since the date of performance, fixation, and broadcast, respectively. |
| Latvia | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Macau | 50 years from publication (anonymous works) |
| Marshall Islands | 0, no copyright. |
| Namibia | 50 years from publication (posthumous works) |
| Nepal | last =| first =| authorlink = | coauthors = | url = http://www.nepalcopyright.gov.np/pdf/The Copyright Act.pdf| title =The Copyright Act, 2059 (2002) |
| Netherlands | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work, corporate works with no listed natural author) |
| New Zealand | 50 years from creation (computer-generated work) |
| Nigeria | 70 years from publication (literary, musical or non-photograph artistic works in the case of government or a body corporate) 50 years from publication (cinematograph films and photographs) 50 years from creation (sound recordings) 50 years from publication (broadcasts) |
| Oman | 90 years from the year following the publication 120 years from the year following the completion |
| Philippines | 50 years from publication (photographic works), or 50 years from creation if unpublished within 50 years of creation |
| Russia | 70 years from publication date for non-amateur cinematographic works published before 1993. All copyrights prior to October Revolution (7-th November 1917) are believed to be expired... |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 75 years from publication or if unpublished 50 years from creation (sound recording or film) |
| Seychelles | 25 years from publication (photograph, film, or broadcast) |
| Sierra Leone | 50 years from publication (photograph, film, or broadcast) |
| Singapore | 70 years from publication (posthumous work, photograph) |
| South Africa | 50 years from publication or if unpublished 50 years from creation (cinematography films, photographs, computer programs) |
| South Korea | 70 years from publication or if unpublished 70 years from creation (organizational works) |
| Sri Lanka | 70 years from publication or if unpublished 50 years from completion (audiovisual work) 25 years from publication (applied art) |
| Sudan | 25 years from publication (photographic pictures and cinematographic films and other audiovisual works; works published under unknown pseudonym or anonymously) |
| Switzerland | 50 years after performance (performers' rights) |
| Syria | 10 years from production (photographic, fine arts or plastic arts) |
| Taiwan | 50 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) |
| Thailand | 50 years from publication or 50 years from creation if not published within 50 years from creation |
| Ukraine | 70 years from publication (anonymous or pseudonymous work) 70 years from publication (published within 30 years from authors' deaths) |
| United Kingdom | 50 years after release; if not released, 50 years after making (sound recordings). EU Directive 2011/77/EU, extending this period to 70 years from 1 November 2013, has been adopted but not yet ratified by Parliament. Phonograms already out of copyright in 2013 will not be retroactively protected. |
| United States | 17|302}}(c)</ref> 95 years from publication for works published 1964–1977; 28 (if copyright not renewed) or 95 years from publication for works published 1923–1963 (Copyrights prior to 1923 have expired, not including copyrights on sound recordings published prior to Feb 15, 1972, covered only under state laws.) |
| Venezuela | 60 years from publication; 60 years from creation if unpublished (an audiovisual work, a broadcast work or a computer program) |
| Zimbabwe | 50 years from publication (photographs) |
