NMU's Compliance Database - Northern Michigan University

Extends by 20 years the length of protection afforded to copyrighted works, and thus lengthens the amount of time it will take for a work to enter the public domain. For copyrights in their renewal term at the time of the effective date of this new law, the term of copyright is extended to 95 years from the date the copyright was originally secured. For works created but not published or registered before January 1, 1978, the term endures for life of the author plus 70 years, but in no case will expire earlier than December 31, 2002. If the work is published before December 31, 2002, the term will not expire before December 31, 2047. Includes an exception that allows libraries, archives and nonprofit educational institutions to treat a copyrighted work in the last 20 years of protection as if it were in the public domain for purposes of preservation, scholarship or research. Conditions that apply to this usage in the last 20 years require a good faith investigation to determine that the work is not subject to normal commercial exploitation, the work or phone record cannot be obtained at a reasonable price, and use of the work stops if the copyright owner provides notice to the contrary.