The U.S. copyright in any work published or registered before Jan. 1, 1931, has expired, and the work is permanently in the U.S. public domain. Sound recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972, follow separate rules: one first published from 1923 through 1946 is protected through Dec. 31 of the 100th year after its publication. Copyright OfficeU.S. Code
Copyright terms that were still running on Jan. 1, 1978, or began after that date run through Dec. 31 of the year they would otherwise end, so those works enter the public domain on a Jan. 1. U.S. Code
Public Domain Checker
Answer a few questions to see whether a book, photo, song, recording, film or other work is in the U.S. public domain, and if not, when it gets there, where the law sets a date. The checker explains what the law says once the facts are known, such as when and how the work was first published, whether it was registered or renewed, and when its author died. It can’t look up a specific work, such as a named song, portrait or letter. It covers the common U.S. rules, and each result names what could change it.
How to answer this
A U.S. government work is one prepared by a federal officer or employee as part of their official duties. U.S. Code
Material in a government publication that a federal employee didn’t prepare on the job, such as a photo credited to a contractor, a university or an outside photographer, isn’t a government work and can keep its own copyright. U.S. Code
Check the credit line: a photo credited to an outside person or company isn’t a government work, even in a government report.
More on these choices
The rule covers only federal officers and employees working within their official duties, not outside contractors, grant recipients or state and local government workers. U.S. Code
A sound recording is the recorded sounds themselves, not counting the sounds that go with a film or other audiovisual work. U.S. Code
A recording usually holds two works: the song, text or other work being performed, and the recording of that performance. Copyright Office
How this checker works:
- The U.S. copyright in any work published or registered before Jan. 1, 1931, has expired, and the work is permanently in the U.S. public domain. Sound recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972, follow separate rules: one first published from 1923 through 1946 is protected through Dec. 31 of the 100th year after its publication. Copyright OfficeU.S. Code
- A work already under copyright on Jan. 1, 1978, can get at most 95 years: a 28-year first term plus a 67-year renewal term. Copyright Office
- For a work created in 1978 or later, copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. U.S. Code
- For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work or a work made for hire, copyright lasts 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. U.S. Code
- Copyright terms that were still running on Jan. 1, 1978, or began after that date run through Dec. 31 of the year they would otherwise end, so those works enter the public domain on a Jan. 1. U.S. Code
How to Find a Work’s Publication and Registration Facts
This checker can’t look up a specific work, such as a named song, portrait or letter. It explains what the law says once the facts are known: when and how the work was first published, or that it never was, and whether it was registered or renewed.
The Copyright Office names three main ways to investigate a work: examine a copy, search the office’s catalogs and other records, or have the office run the search. Copyright Office
On a copy of the work
- Examine a copy of the work for a copyright notice, the place and date of publication, the author and the publisher. Copyright Office
- A copyright notice is a statement placed on copies of a work to tell the public that a copyright owner claims it. A copyright notice usually shows the symbol ©, the word “Copyright” or the abbreviation “Copr.,” with the owner’s name and the year of first publication. Copyright OfficeCopyright Office
- On a work published before 1978, the notice generally had to include the year copyright was secured: the year of publication or, for a work first registered as unpublished, the year of registration. The year in the notice usually, though not always, shows when the copyright began. Copyright Office
- On pictorial, graphic and sculptural works published before 1978 (Classes F through K under the 1909 law), the notice could leave out the year. Those classes included maps, works of art, photographs, and prints and pictorial illustrations. Copyright OfficeCopyright Act of 1909
- On a new version of an earlier work, such as a revised edition or a musical arrangement, the notice usually had to show only the new version’s year, which can be later than the year the original was first published. The date in a notice doesn’t necessarily show when copyright in all the material in the work will expire; some of it may already be in the public domain. Copyright Office
- For a sound recording, examine the disc, tape or cassette itself, or the album cover, sleeve or container it was sold in. Copyright Office
- On a phonorecord, such as a vinyl disc or a cassette tape, the notice uses the symbol ℗, the letter P in a circle, in place of ©. Until March 1, 1989, that notice was required on published copies of a recording made on or after Feb. 15, 1972, and it shows a year and the owner’s name; recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972, weren’t eligible for federal copyright. A record holds the song as well as the recording, so a copyright date on its label may belong to the song. Copyright OfficeCopyright Office
In the Copyright Office’s records
- Of the Copyright Office’s online records, the Copyright Public Records System covers 1898 to 1945 and 1978 to the present; the Virtual Card Catalog (1870 to 1977) and the Catalog of Copyright Entries (1891 to 1978) cover the years between. Those years are when a registration or renewal was made, not when the work was published. Copyright OfficeCopyright Office
- The Copyright Public Records System holds records of registrations and of recorded documents, with information about the author, the claimant and the relevant dates, but not copies of the works themselves. Copyright Office
- The Copyright Office’s online records cataloged from Jan. 1, 1978, to the present include renewal information as well as registrations. Copyright Office
- The Virtual Card Catalog shows scanned cards from the Copyright Card Catalog, an index to registrations and other Copyright Office records from 1870 through 1977. Copyright Office
- The card catalog’s index covers renewals as well as registrations and assignments. Copyright Office
- A card for a registration shows the work’s title, the author, the claimant (the copyright owner when it was registered), the registration number and the date of publication or, for an unpublished work, the date the office received it. Copyright Office
- The card catalog from 1938 through 1977 is organized in blocks of time, so a searcher must know the approximate date of publication or registration; within each block, original and renewal registrations are filed together by author, claimant and title. Copyright Office
- The Catalog of Copyright Entries, printed from 1891 through 1978, is divided by class of work, and renewals made before 1979 are generally listed at the end of the volume for their class. Copyright Office
- The name in the notice can serve as the starting point for a search of the Copyright Office’s records. Copyright Office
- The Copyright Office’s records list many different works under the same or similar titles. Copyright Office
- A work may have been registered under a different title or as part of a larger work. Copyright Office
- The Copyright Office doesn’t check the accuracy of the indexing information that applicants supplied, and it warns that search results may have gaps and inaccuracies. Copyright Office
- The Copyright Office calls the Virtual Card Catalog a proof of concept that may contain filing errors, and says its results shouldn’t be relied on for legal matters. Copyright Office
- Searches of the Copyright Office’s catalogs and records help determine a work’s status, but they can’t be treated as conclusive in every case. Copyright Office
A search by the Copyright Office
- For an hourly fee, Copyright Office staff will search its records and send a written report. For a search by its staff, the Copyright Office asks for as much of this as possible: the title and any variants, the authors’ names, the probable owner, the approximate year of publication or registration, the type of work, the title of the periodical or collection it first appeared in, and any registration number. Copyright Office
- The office gives no opinion on the legal significance or effect of the facts in a search report. Copyright Office
- The Copyright Office keeps no list of works in the public domain. Copyright Office
- Finding no record of a work doesn’t mean it’s unprotected. Copyright Office
Once you know the year the work was first published, or registered while unpublished, answer the checker’s questions with it. If no copies were ever sold, given away, rented or lent to the public, choose “Never published”; don’t use the year the work was made.
Where a question offers “I’m not sure,” choose it when a fact can’t be found, and the result shows what to check.
Worked Examples: A Song, a Portrait and a Book
These three works are made up to show how the checker’s questions lead to a result. None is a ruling on a real song, portrait or book. Every result is an estimate from the answers given, not legal advice or a Copyright Office determination.
A song first published in 1941
The song was first published in the U.S. in 1941, as sheet music carrying a copyright notice. Nobody has yet searched the records for a renewal.
| The checker asks | The answer |
|---|---|
| What kind of work is it? | Something else: a book, article, photo, art, film, song, software and so on |
| When was it first published? | 1931 through 1963 |
| Where was it first published, and did those first authorized copies carry a copyright notice? | In the U.S., with a copyright notice. A magazine’s or collection’s notice counts, and art and photos could leave out the year. |
| Was the copyright renewed with the Copyright Office in its 28th year? | I’m not sure |
| In what year was it first published? | 1941 |
The checker’s result, labeled “Depends on renewal”: “Depends on whether the copyright was renewed.” If it was renewed, it’s protected through Dec. 31, 2036, and enters the public domain on Jan. 1, 2037. If it wasn’t, its copyright ended in 1969, and it’s in the public domain. The result says to search for a renewal filed in 1968 or 1969 in the Virtual Card Catalog or the Catalog of Copyright Entries, not the Copyright Public Records System.
A copyright secured from 1931 through 1963 had to be renewed with the Copyright Office in its 28th year. Without that renewal, the copyright ended for good at the end of its 28th year. Copyright Office
A portrait that was never published
The portrait was made in 1935 and never published: no copies were sold, given away, rented or lent to the public. It was never registered. Its artist worked independently under a real name and died in 1950.
| The checker asks | The answer |
|---|---|
| What kind of work is it? | Something else: a book, article, photo, art, film, song, software and so on |
| When was it first published? | Never published, including a song or text sold only on records before 1978 and not since |
| Before 1978, while it was still unpublished, was it registered with the Copyright Office? | No |
| Who is the author? | One or more people under their real names, all now dead |
| In what year did the author die? | 1950 |
The checker’s result, labeled “Likely public domain”: “In the public domain since Jan. 1, 2021.” Here, the term ran through Dec. 31, 2020.
A work created before 1978 but not published or registered by then got federal copyright automatically, generally for the same term as newer works, and that term couldn’t end before Dec. 31, 2002. For a work created in 1978 or later, copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. Copyright OfficeU.S. Code
Among the exceptions the result lists:
If a work created before 1978, and neither copyrighted nor in the public domain by then, was published by Dec. 31, 2002, its copyright can’t end before Dec. 31, 2047. U.S. Code
A book first published in 1966
The book was first published in the U.S. in 1966, and its first copies carried a copyright notice.
| The checker asks | The answer |
|---|---|
| What kind of work is it? | Something else: a book, article, photo, art, film, song, software and so on |
| When was it first published? | 1964 through 1977 |
| Where was it first published, and did those first authorized copies carry a copyright notice? | In the U.S., with a copyright notice. A magazine’s or collection’s notice counts, and art and photos could leave out the year. |
| In what year was it first published? | 1966 |
The checker’s result, labeled “Still protected”: “Protected through Dec. 31, 2061.” It enters the public domain on Jan. 1, 2062.
For works published or registered from 1964 through 1977, renewal became automatic, so the copyright lasts the full 95 years without a renewal filing. Copyright Office
How Long Copyright Lasts
How this checker works:
- The U.S. copyright in any work published or registered before Jan. 1, 1931, has expired, and the work is permanently in the U.S. public domain. Sound recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972, follow separate rules: one first published from 1923 through 1946 is protected through Dec. 31 of the 100th year after its publication. Copyright OfficeU.S. Code
- A work already under copyright on Jan. 1, 1978, can get at most 95 years: a 28-year first term plus a 67-year renewal term. Copyright Office
- For a work created in 1978 or later, copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. U.S. Code
- For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work or a work made for hire, copyright lasts 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. U.S. Code
- Copyright terms that were still running on Jan. 1, 1978, or began after that date run through Dec. 31 of the year they would otherwise end, so those works enter the public domain on a Jan. 1. U.S. Code
Works Published Before 1978
- A work already under copyright on Jan. 1, 1978, can get at most 95 years: a 28-year first term plus a 67-year renewal term. Copyright Office
- A copyright secured from 1931 through 1963 had to be renewed with the Copyright Office in its 28th year. Copyright Office
- Without that renewal, the copyright ended for good at the end of its 28th year. The exception is certain foreign works: the Uruguay Round Agreements Act restored copyright they had lost this way. Copyright OfficeCopyright Office
- A renewed copyright lasts 95 years from the end of the year it was first secured. Copyright Office
- For works published or registered from 1964 through 1977, renewal became automatic, so the copyright lasts the full 95 years without a renewal filing. Copyright Office
- Before 1978, an unpublished work could get federal copyright by being registered, and its 28-year first term then counted from the registration date. Copyright Office
Works From 1978 On, and Unpublished Works
- For a work created in 1978 or later, copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. U.S. Code
- For a joint work by two or more authors who didn’t work for hire, the 70 years count from the death of the last surviving author. U.S. Code
- For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work or a work made for hire, copyright lasts 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. U.S. Code
- A work created before 1978 but not published or registered by then got federal copyright automatically, generally for the same term as newer works, and that term couldn’t end before Dec. 31, 2002. If such a work was published by Dec. 31, 2002, its copyright can’t end before Dec. 31, 2047. Copyright OfficeU.S. Code
The Copyright Notice
- A copyright notice usually shows the symbol ©, the word “Copyright” or the abbreviation “Copr.,” with the owner’s name and the year of first publication. Copyright Office
- Published copies had to carry a copyright notice until March 1, 1989. Copyright Office
- For a work first published before 1978, a published copy with no copyright notice at all generally means the work isn’t protected. Copyright Office
- For works first published from Jan. 1, 1978, through Feb. 28, 1989, a missing notice didn’t end the copyright by itself, but it could if the omission wasn’t cured, such as by registering within five years of publication and adding the notice to copies published in the U.S. after the omission was found. Copyright Office
- A work published on or after March 1, 1989, can be protected with no notice at all. Copyright Office
Government Works, Sound Recordings and Foreign Works
- Copyright protection isn’t available for any work of the U.S. government. U.S. Code
- A U.S. government work is one prepared by a federal officer or employee as part of their official duties. U.S. Code
- A recording usually holds two works: the song, text or other work being performed, and the recording of that performance. Copyright Office
- A recording fixed before Feb. 15, 1972, is protected through Dec. 31 of the 95th year after first publication plus a transition period, and never after Feb. 15, 2067. U.S. Code
- The Uruguay Round Agreements Act restored U.S. copyright in certain foreign works that had lost it for not following U.S. formalities, including failing to renew. Copyright Office
- A restored copyright lasts only for the rest of the term the work would have had in the U.S. if it had never lost protection. U.S. Code
New Versions and Other Countries
- A new version, such as a translation, arrangement, revised edition or adaptation, can have its own copyright in the new material even when the original is in the public domain. Copyright Office
- A work in the U.S. public domain may still be protected in other countries, each of which sets its own rules. Copyright Office