09. What's this stuff about Copyright? (Old Time Radio)
Description
This article is from the Old Time Radio FAQ, by Lou Genco webmaster@old-time.com with numerous contributions by others.
09. What's this stuff about Copyright? (Old Time Radio)
The copyrights on some OTR shows have expired. Several copyrights
have been renewed, and some may have fallen under "common law"
copyright (even though they were not originally copyrighted). 1970s
era Berne Convention agreements further cloud the issue for
non-lawyers. See the Old-Time WWW site for the latest "common sense"
and legal citations.
A concise answer was given by 'A. Joseph Ross' (lawyer@world.std.com)
(used with his permission):
Just to get a little perspective in this
controversy, copyrights do expire. Under the old
copyright law, a copyright was good for 28 years
from the date of first publication, renewable for
another 28 years, for a total of 56. Under the 1976
act, those copyrights were extended to 75 years,
provided they were renewed. Copyrights under the new
law, which took effect on 1 January 1978, are good
for the life of the author plus 50 years. Copyrights
on anonymous works, works made for hire, etc. are
good for 75 years after first publication.
So, since otr has just barely been around for 75
years, little or none of it is in the public domain
yet by reason of having been around for a long time.
The question of what constitutes publication, and
the fact that sound recordings could not be
independently copyrighted until the new law took
effect add additional complications.
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