Title[ Chapter 3 - Duration of Copyright
Section[ Endnotes
Chapter 3 Endnotes
1Private Law 92-60, 85 Stat. 857, effective December 15, 1971, states that:
[A]ny provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, copyright is hereby granted to the trustees under the will of Mary Baker Eddy, their successors, and assigns, in the work “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” (entitled also in some editions “Science and Health” or “Science and Health; with a Key to the Scriptures”), by Mary Baker Eddy, including all editions thereof in English and translation heretofore published, or hereafter published by or on behalf of said trustees, their successors or assigns, for a term of seventy-five years from the effective date of this Act or from the date of first publication, whichever is later.
But cf. United Christian Scientists v. Christian Science Board of Directors, First Church of Christ, Scientist, 829 F.2d 1152, 4 USPQ2d 1177 (D.C. Cir. 1987) (holding Priv. L. 92-60, 85 Stat. 857, to be unconstitutional because it violates the Establishment Clause).
2 The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 amended section 301 by adding at the end thereof subsection (e). Pub. L. No. 100-568, 102 Stat. 2853, 2857. In 1990, the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act amended section 301(b) by adding at the end thereof paragraph (4). Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5133, 5134. The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 amended section 301 by adding at the end thereof subsection (f). Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5131. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 301 by changing “February 15, 2047” to “February 15, 2067” each place it appeared in subsection (c). Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827.
3The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, which added subsection (f), states, “Subject to subsection (b) and except as provided in subsection (c), this title and the amendments made by this title take effect 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,” that is, six months after December 1, 1990. Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5089, 5132. See also endnote 37, chapter 1.
4In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 302 by substituting “70” for “fifty,” “95” for “seventy-five” and “120” for “one hundred” each place they appeared. Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827. This change was effective October 27, 1998. Id.
5In 1997, section 303 was amended by adding subsection (b). Pub. L. No. 105-80, 111 Stat. 1529, 1534. In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 303 by substituting “December 31, 2047” for “December 31, 2027.” Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827.
6The Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 amended section 304 by substituting a new subsection (a) and by making a conforming amendment in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (c). Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264. The Act, as amended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, states that the renewal and extension of a copyright for a further term of 67 years “shall have the same effect with respect to any grant, before the effective date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act [October 27, 1998], of a transfer or license of the further term as did the renewal of a copyright before the effective date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act [October 27, 1998] under the law in effect at the time of such grant.” The Act also states that the 1992 amendments “shall apply only to those copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977. Copyrights secured before January 1, 1964, shall be governed by the provisions of section 304(a) of title 17, United States Code, as in effect on the day before . . .[enactment on June 26, 1992], except each reference to forty-seven years in such provisions shall be deemed to be 67 years.” Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264, 266, as amended by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827, 2828.
In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amended section 304 by substituting “67” for “47” wherever it appeared in subsection (a), by substituting a new subsection (b) and by adding subsection (d) at the end thereof. Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827. That Act also amended subsection 304(c) by deleting “by his widow or her widower and his or her children or grandchildren” from the first sentence of paragraph (2), by adding subparagraph (D) at the end of paragraph (2) and by inserting “or, in the case of a termination under subsection (d), within the five-year period specified by subsection (d)(2),” into the first sentence of subparagraph (4)(A). Id.
7 In 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act amendment to subsection 304(b) completely deleted the previous language that was originally part of the 1976 Copyright Act. Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827. That earlier statutory language continues to be relevant for calculating the term of protection for copyrights commencing between September 19, 1906, and December 31, 1949. The 1976 Copyright Act extended the terms for those copyrights by 20 years, provided they were in their renewal term between December 31, 1976, and December 31, 1977. The deleted language states:
The duration of any copyright, the renewal term of which is subsisting at any time between December 31, 1976, and December 31, 1977, inclusive, or for which renewal registration is made between December 31, 1976, and December 31, 1977, inclusive, is extended to endure for a term of seventy-five years from the date copyright was originally secured.
The effective date of this provision was October 19, 1976. That effective date provision is contained in Appendix I, herein, as section 102 of the Transitional and Supplementary Provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976. Copyright Act of 1976, Pub. L. No. 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541, 2598.
In addition, prior to the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress enacted a series of nine interim extensions for works whose copyright protection began between September 19, 1906, and December 31, 1918, if they were in their renewal terms. Without these interim extensions, copyrights commencing during that time period would have otherwise expired after 56 years, at the end of their renewal terms, between September 19, 1962, and December 31, 1976. The nine Acts authorizing the interim extensions are as follows, in chronological order:
Pub. L. No. 87-668, 76 Stat. 555 (extending copyrights from September 19, 1962, to December 31, 1965)
Pub. L. No. 89-142, 79 Stat. 581 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1967)
Pub. L. No. 90-141, 81 Stat. 464 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1968)
Pub. L. No. 90-416, 82 Stat. 397 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1969)
Pub. L. No. 91-147, 83 Stat. 360 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1970)
Pub. L. No. 91-555, 84 Stat. 1441 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1971)
Pub. L. No. 92-170, 85 Stat. 490 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1972)
Pub. L. No. 92-566, 86 Stat. 1181 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1974)
Pub. L. No. 93-573, 88 Stat. 1873 (extending copyrights to December 31, 1976)
8The effective date of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act is October 27, 1998.
9See endnote 8, supra.
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