In the United States, how long until something becomes public domain depends on when it was created, who created it, and whether older formalities were followed. The modern default is simple: copyright lasts for the author’s life plus 70 years. Works made by companies, along with anonymous and pseudonymous works, get a fixed term of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever ends first. Older works follow a patchwork of earlier rules that can shorten or lengthen protection significantly.
The Modern Rule: Life Plus 70 Years
For anything created by an identified individual on or after January 1, 1978, copyright runs for the author’s entire life plus 70 years after death.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 302 – Duration of Copyright: Works Created on or After January 1, 1978 The work enters the public domain on January 1 of the year after that 70-year period ends. A novel published in 1985 by an author who died in 2020 stays under copyright through the end of 2090 and becomes free to use on January 1, 2091.
For works with two or more authors, the 70-year clock starts from the death of the last surviving author.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 302 – Duration of Copyright: Works Created on or After January 1, 1978 A younger co-author can push the expiration date decades further out than the older collaborator alone would have.
Works Made for Hire, Anonymous, and Pseudonymous Works
When there is no single identified human author to measure a lifespan against, copyright runs on a fixed clock. Works made for hire — created by employees as part of their job, or specially commissioned under a written work-for-hire agreement — belong to the employer or commissioning party from the moment of creation.2U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 30 – Works Made for Hire
These works, along with anonymous and pseudonymous works, are protected for 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 302 – Duration of Copyright: Works Created on or After January 1, 1978 A film released by a studio in 2000 stays under copyright through the end of 2095. If the real name of an anonymous or pseudonymous author is later recorded with the U.S. Copyright Office, the term converts to the standard life-plus-70 calculation, which may end up shorter or longer than the fixed term.
Works Published Before 1978
Older works followed rules tied to publication date, renewal filings, and copyright notice. Where a work falls in this timeline determines whether it is already free to use.
Published Before 1931
Works published in the United States before 1931 are in the public domain. Works from 1930 joined that group on January 1, 2026, and each January 1 another year’s works follow.3Library of Congress Blogs. Lifecycle of Copyright: 1930 Works in the Public Domain Works from 1931 are set to enter the public domain on January 1, 2027, provided their copyrights were properly maintained.
Published 1931 Through 1963
Works from this period were granted an initial 28-year copyright term. To keep the protection alive, the owner had to file a renewal application with the U.S. Copyright Office before that term ran out. Renewed works receive a total of 95 years from publication.4U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 6A – Renewal of Copyright Works that were never renewed fell into the public domain after 28 years, which is why a large share of mid-century material is already free to use. Copyright Office records can be searched to confirm whether a renewal was filed.5U.S. Copyright Office. Search Copyright Records: Copyright Public Records Portal
Published 1964 Through 1977
A 1992 amendment made renewal automatic for works that secured federal copyright between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977.4U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 6A – Renewal of Copyright No paperwork was required. These works get a full 95 years from publication. A book published in 1965 enters the public domain on January 1, 2061.
The Copyright Notice Trap
For any work published before March 1, 1989, a proper copyright notice — the “© [Year] [Author Name]” line — was mandatory. Publishing without it could send the work directly into the public domain.6U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 3 – Copyright Notice After the United States joined the Berne Convention on March 1, 1989, notice became optional, and works published on or after that date are fully protected either way.
Unpublished Works Created Before 1978
Works created before January 1, 1978, that were never published or registered received federal protection starting on that date, on the standard life-plus-70 term. Congress added a floor: copyright in these works could not expire before December 31, 2002.7U.S. Copyright Office. Chapter 3 – Duration of Copyright If such a work was then published on or before December 31, 2002, it received a longer floor: copyright cannot expire before December 31, 2047. An old manuscript published in 2001 is protected until at least 2048 regardless of how long ago the author died.
Sound Recordings Made Before 1972
Sound recordings are treated as separate works from the underlying songs they capture. A composition and a recording of that composition carry independent copyrights with potentially different expiration dates.8U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 56A – Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings
Recordings made before February 15, 1972, were governed by state law until the Music Modernization Act of 2018 brought them under federal law through its CLASSICS Act provisions. The staggered schedule for their entry into the public domain runs like this:9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 1401 – Unauthorized Use of Pre-1972 Sound Recordings
- Recordings from before 1923 are already in the public domain.
- Recordings from 1923 through 1946 are protected for 100 years from publication. A 1940 recording enters the public domain on January 1, 2041.
- Recordings from 1947 through 1956 are protected for 110 years from publication. A 1950 recording enters the public domain on January 1, 2061.
- All remaining recordings made from 1957 through February 14, 1972, enter the public domain together on February 15, 2067.
Even after a recording is free to use, the underlying song may still be under copyright, and vice versa.10United States Copyright Office. Musical Works, Sound Recordings and Copyright Both need to be cleared separately.
Works That Are Public Domain From the Start
Some material never has to wait. Works created by federal government employees as part of their official duties are not eligible for copyright at all and enter the public domain the moment they are created.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 U.S. Code 105 – Subject Matter of Copyright: United States Government Works This covers federal reports, court opinions, congressional documents, and NASA photographs. Works produced by government contractors may still be copyrighted, and state and local government works are not automatically free to use.
Ideas, facts, processes, systems, and methods of operation are also outside copyright entirely — only the specific creative expression describing them is protected.12U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 33 – Works Not Protected by Copyright Names, titles, slogans, and short phrases are also not covered, though some may qualify for trademark protection.13U.S. Copyright Office. What Does Copyright Protect? (FAQ)
An author can also release a work into the public domain voluntarily using the CC0 public domain dedication, which waives all rights immediately.14Creative Commons. CC0 “No Rights Reserved” A CC0-dedicated work is treated the same as any other public domain material.
The Foreign Works Exception
A foreign work that appears to be in the U.S. public domain may not actually be. Under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, copyrights in works from eligible foreign countries were automatically restored if they had entered the U.S. public domain because of a formality failure such as missing notice or non-renewal.15U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright Restoration Under the URAA A work qualifies if at least one author was a national of an eligible country (generally any WTO or Berne Convention member), the work is still under copyright in its home country, and the U.S. lapse was due to a formality rather than term expiration. The restored copyright lasts for the remainder of the term the work would have had if it had complied with U.S. law originally. Check for a URAA restoration before treating any foreign work as free to use.
What You Can Do With a Public Domain Work
Once a work is in the public domain, anyone can copy, distribute, perform, display, or adapt it without permission or payment. There is one important limit. A new creative work built on top of public domain material can carry its own copyright covering only the new material the later author contributed, not the underlying public domain work.16GovInfo. 17 USC 103 – Subject Matter of Copyright: Compilations and Derivative Works A modern film adaptation of a public domain novel is copyrighted, so you cannot copy the film, but you are free to write your own adaptation of the same novel.17U.S. Copyright Office. Circular 14 – Copyright in Derivative Works and Compilations The same principle applies to new recordings of old songs, annotated editions of classic texts, and colorized versions of old films. Use the original freely; leave the new additions alone.