§ 305. — Duration of copyright: Terminal date.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC305]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 3--DURATION OF COPYRIGHT
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.
(Pub. L. 94-553, title I, Sec. 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2576.)
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.
