Official records, UN documents issued with a UN symbol, and not-for-sale public information materials designed primarily to inform the public about United Nations activities
published with copyright notice, originally created in 1978 or later
Works by authors who died more than 70 years ago (1953 or earlier); for anonymous or corporate works, the earlier of 95 years from publication or registration for copyright (1928 or earlier), or 120 years from creation (1904 or earlier); excluding sound recordings.
Works by authors who died more than 70 years ago (1953 or earlier); for anonymous or corporate works, the earlier of 95 years from publication or registration for copyright (1928 or earlier), or 120 years from creation (1904 or earlier); excluding sound recordings.
none.
2003 or later
none.
Works by authors who died more than 70 years ago (1953 or earlier); for anonymous or corporate works, the earlier of 95 years from publication or registration for copyright (1928 or earlier), or 120 years from creation (1904 or earlier); excluding sound recordings.
Unpublished works by authors who died more than 70 years ago (1953 or earlier); for anonymous or corporate works, the earlier of 95 years from publication or registration for copyright (1928 or earlier), or 120 years from creation (1904 or earlier); excluding sound recordings.
Note: Foreign works published after 1928 are likely to be still under copyright in the US because of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, even if they briefly entered public domain before the agreement.[6] Only unambiguous conditions are listed below.
Date of publication
Condition
What is public domain
Template
Before 1928
none.
all works.
{{PD-US|year of author's death}}, or {{PD-anon-US}} if anonymous or pseudonymous
1929–1977
published before 1989, public domain in its home country as of its home country's URAA date (1 January 1996 in most countries), and never published in the US prior to that date
all works.
{{PD-1996}}, {{PD-1996|year of author's death}}, or {{PD-anon-1996}} if anonymous or pseudonymous
After 1 January 1978
copyright in its home country
works by authors who died more than 95 years ago (1928)
Edict of a government, local or foreign; Documents include "judicial opinions, administrative rulings, legislative enactments, public ordinances, and similar official legal documents"
Laws; regulations; resolutions, decisions and orders of State organs; other documents of a legislative, administrative or judicial nature; and their official translations.
Official works, in particular the texts of treaties, laws and regulations and those of reports or decisions by authorities of any kind, and translations thereof.
The constitution, acts, regulations, official documents (including proclamations, text of speeches, news releases, and other documents prepared by civil servants in the course of carrying out their duties), and their translations and compilations by central or local government agencies.
Official works released by any German federal or state authority or court. Third party translations are not public domain until 70 years after the death of the translator.
Any result of an open meeting of a government institution; laws and regulations; government speeches or speeches of a government official; court decisions or judicial provisions; or scripture and religious symbols.
An unpublished work is one that has never been published in any form, or which was first published after 2003 but created before 1935.
Note for the European Union: If a previously unpublished work is published first time ("editio princeps") later than 70 years after the death of the author, then it is no more public domain but it is granted a copyright for 25 years (Council Directive 93/98/EEC, see here)
Type of work
What is public domain
Template
Most works (except those below)
or created before 1978 and published after 2002
Works of authors who died more than 70 years ago (1953)
These tables outline the estimated length of time of copyright per country[7][8][9]. Laws regarding anonymous works, corporate-authored works, or non-literary works vary per country. This is not intended to be used as a legal guideline since it cannot reflect the complexity of the copyright laws in effect at any one time and since copyright laws are changing continuously; this section simply provides a useful summary as part of a more in-depth research. See also the following Wikipedia copyright length lists for further information:
first publication + 70 for anonymous or pseudonymous works (only if the author doesn't make his identity known before the expiry)[11]
first publication + 70 for audiovisual and photographic works[12], phonograms and transmission for the broadcasts of broadcasting organizations[13]
texts of treaties or conventions, laws, decrees, regulations, judicial decisions and other official enactments shall be excluded from copyright protection[14]
Brunei
life + 50
Bulgaria
life + 70
Burkina Faso
life + 50
Burundi
life + 50
Cambodia
life + 50
Cameroon
life + 50
Canada
life + 50 if author died before 1972, otherwise life + 70
Cape Verde
life + 50
Chile
life + 70
China
life + 50
Colombia
life + 80
Costa Rica
life + 70
Cote d'Ivoire
life + 99
Croatia
life + 50 if author died before 1949[15], otherwise life + 70 [16][17]
a These works have copyright terms extending 70 years beyond the author's life, or until 31 December 2047 (whichever is greater), pursuant to 17 United States Code 303.
↑ 5.05.1s304 Copyright Act 1976 "Copyright in a work created before January 1, 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or copyrighted, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for the term provided by section 302 [17 USCS Sect. 302]. In no case, however, shall the term of copyright in such a work expire before December 31, 2002; and, if the work is published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright shall not expire before December 31, 2027." s302 states "Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and fifty years after the author's death." The Copyright Term Extension Act extended the dates to December 31, 2047 and seventy years after death.
