Copyrights - 17 USC Section 305

01/19/04

Sec. 305. Duration of copyright: Terminal date

All terms of copyright provided by sections 302 through 304 run
to the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise
expire.

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
HOUSE REPORT NO. 94-1476
Under section 305, which has its counterpart in the laws of most
foreign countries, the term of copyright protection for a work
extends through December 31 of the year in which the term would
otherwise have expired. This will make the duration of copyright
much easier to compute, since it will be enough to determine the
year, rather than the exact date, of the event from which the term
is based.
Section 305 applies only to "terms of copyright provided by
sections 302 through 304," which are the sections dealing with
duration of copyright. It therefore has no effect on the other time
periods specified in the bill; and, since they do not involve
"terms of copyright," the periods provided in section 304(c) with
respect to termination of grants are not affected by section 305.
The terminal date section would change the duration of subsisting
copyrights under section 304 by extending the total terms of
protection under subsections (a) and (b) to the end of the 75th
year from the date copyright was secured. A copyright subsisting in
its first term on the effective date of the act [Jan. 1, 1978]
would run through December 31 of the 28th year and would then
expire unless renewed. Since all copyright terms under the bill
expire on December 31, and since section 304(a) requires that
renewal be made "within one year prior to the expiration of the
original term of copyright," the period for renewal registration in
all cases will run from December 31 through December 31.
A special situation arises with respect to subsisting copyrights
whose first 28-year term expires during the first year after the
act comes into effect. As already explained in connection with
section 304(b), if a renewal registration for a copyright of this
sort is made before the effective date [Jan. 1, 1978], the total
term is extended to 75 years without the need for a further renewal
registration. But, if renewal has not yet been made when the act
becomes effective [Jan. 1, 1978], the period for renewal
registration may in some cases be extended. If, as the bill
provides, the act becomes effective on January 1, 1978, a copyright
that was originally secured on September 1, 1950, could have been
renewed by virtue of the present statute between September 1, 1977,
and December 31, 1977; if not, it can still be renewed under
section 304(a) of the new act between January 1, 1978, and December
31, 1978.

Last modified: April 19, 2006