Public Domain Copyright Rules Explained

Copyright explained

Work is ‘out of copyright’ or in the ‘public domain’, usually when a certain amount of time has passed since the author, artist or illustrator died. Copyright exists to cover many things that are created including movies, books and printed matter, artwork and much more, but we’ll stick to books and artwork as that’s our area of concern. For an illustrated book, the words may enter the public domain at a different time to the pictures as they will usually have been produced by a different person.

Copyright will usually expire at the end of the calendar year in question – therefore you’ll need to add 71 years to the year of death to determine the first year that you can re-use the work in question. E.g. Arthur Rackham died in 1939 therefore his work was out of copyright at the end of 2009. You could therefore re-use his work from 1st January 2010 onwards (i.e. year of death plus 71 years).

The copyright period for the UK, the US, most of Europe, and Australia is lifetime plus 70 years. Much of the rest of the world has a lifetime plus 50-year rule. In Australia, if the death was before 1955, the term is death plus 50 years.

There are only a handful of countries that have terms longer than 70 years, including Guatemala, Honduras, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Samoa (all 75 years), Spain (for authors that died before 7th December 1987), Colombia, Equatorial Guinea (all 80 years), Jamaica at 95 years and Mexico at 100 years (but see Mexico below).

Please see the list of copyright durations by country at the end of this article.

The rule of the shorter term

The rule of the shorter term is a copyright provision that says a country doesn't have to protect a work for longer than the country where it was first published. This means that if a book is published in one country and has 50 years of protection, another country doesn't have to protect it for more than 50 years if its own copyright term is longer. The United States does not appear to follow the rule of the shorter term.

There is more on the rule of the shorter term below.

Copyright in the United States

This is somewhat more complicated than in other parts of the world as various acts did not apply the law retrospectively and older US statutes apply the copyright term from the date that the work was published, rather than from the death of the author. This leads to some confusion for undated works, even if you know who the author (artist) is.

One unusual feature of US copyright law is that before 1st March 1989, all published works had to contain a copyright notice. A work published before 1st January 1978 without a copyright notice automatically entered the public domain at the moment of publication. After 1st March 1989, the law was changed so that any published or unpublished work received copyright protection, even without a copyright notice. This had been the case in other countries for many years.

Copyright terms for works first published in the United States

These rules are working on the assumption that books were published with valid copyright notices.

Up to 1923. Any work first published in the United States before 1923 (i.e. up to the end of 1922) was given a 75-year copyright term which has now therefore expired, putting all US works into the public domain.

1923 - 1963. Any work first published in the US between these dates and renewed after 28 years has copyright protection in the US for 95 years after publication. These works were originally meant to have a 28-year extension upon renewal however this was changed by a series of amendments, firstly to extend it to 75 years altogether, then to 95.

This means that:-

US works published in 1924 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2020

US works published in 1925 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2021

US works published in 1926 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2022

US works published in 1927 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2023

US works published in 1928 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2024

US works published in 1929 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2025

US works published in 1930 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2026

US works published in 1931 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2027

US works published in 1932 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2028

US works published in 1933 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2029

US works published in 1934 and earlier are out of copyright 1.1.2030

And so it goes on up to the end of 1963.

If the work was not renewed, that work is in the public domain in the US (but not necessarily public domain in the UK unless it has been 50 years since the author died, as this was the copyright term in place at the time in the UK).

An enactment came into force in 1992 making renewal unnecessary and automatic. It was not, however, retrospective; if a work was already in the public domain before 1992 (i.e. for work up to 1963) because of non-renewal, it remains in the public domain.

1964 - 1977. Any work that was first published between 1964 and 1977 has copyright protection for 95 years from date of publication (renewal term automatic).

1978 and later (whether or not published). For US work published 1978 onwards, the copyright term is lifetime plus 70 years (but if the work is made for hire, anonymous or under a pseudonym, unless the real identity is known, 95 years from publication date or 120 years from creation date, whichever is the soonest).

The term was originally lifetime plus 50 years following the Copyright Act 1976 (effective 1st January 1978) but it was increased to lifetime plus 70 years following the Copyright term extension (Sonny Bono) act, effective 1st January 1978.

There are a couple more rules for unpublished work but as this document is mainly concerned with books and book illustrations which would be published works, we won’t bother with those now.

US Public Domain works in the UK

Once you’ve read and digested the copyright rules for both the UK and the US, it may not seem so complicated but when it sinks in more, you’ll start coming up with questions. For example, a picture book published in the US in 1922 would be in the public domain there - but what if the illustrator died in 1950? For us in the UK, that poses a problem. US law says that the book is out of copyright but under UK law, the illustrations would not pass into the public domain until the end of 2020.

Before we continue there are a couple of things to establish. Is the book a US work or a UK one? It may be both – many books may have the publisher’s name with both London and New York underneath. Is the author (illustrator) American or English? If he/she is American, it will be US law that is relevant and if they are British, UK law will apply. However, if the publisher is still in business, they may enforce their copyright in either country, so you need to be sure of the rules.

These are the quick and basic guidelines…

US works published before 1900 – public domain in both the US and UK.

US works published 1900-1920 – public domain in the UK as long as no renewal occurred in the 28th year after publication. If renewal was filed, it will be public domain in the UK only if it’s been 50 years since the author died.

US works published in 1921 and 1922 – public domain in the UK regardless of whether renewal occurred in the 28th year after publication or not.

US works published 1923-1927 – if no renewal occurred in the 28th year after publication, it will be public domain in the UK. If renewal did occur, it will only be public domain in the UK if it’s been 70 years since the author died.

US works published 1928-1963 – if no renewal occurred, it will be public domain in the UK if it has been 50 years since the author died. If renewal did occur, it will only be public domain in the UK if it has been 70 years since the author died.

US works published after 1963 – not public domain in the UK until it’s been 70 years since the author died.

The 1927 cut-off date occurs because the UK was following the rule of the ‘shorter term’ in early 1956 (until the Copyright Act 1956 which became effective on 5th November 1956).

Under US law, a work published in 1928 was required to have its copyright renewed in 1956 in the US in order to retain its copyright protection. If it was not renewed, it fell into the public domain in the States on 1st January 1957 as copyright protection always remains in force until the end of the calendar year. Because the Copyright Act 1956 came into effect on 5th November 1956, the rule of the shorter term cannot be applied to this work. Instead it will be the term that UK copyright law specified at the time that this work entered the public domain in the US, which is 50 years from the death of the author.

The rule of the shorter term is explained below.

The rule of the shorter term (or comparison of terms)

The rule of the shorter term is a provision in international copyright treaties that allows signatory countries to limit the duration of copyright they grant to foreign works under national treatment, to at most the copyright term granted to the work in the country of its creator’s origin.

For example, if under one country’s law a particular work would have qualified for a 95 year copyright term but the work originates in a country where the copyright term is only 70 years, the shorter term is the one that would apply in both countries.

There are two treaties that provide such rules – the Universal Copyright Convention and the Berne Convention. Application of this rule is not mandatory, however, and a country may provide otherwise in its legislation, such as in the case of the United States.

The shorter term in the US

The US has chosen NOT to follow the rule of the shorter term, therefore maintaining a more stringent copyright term for some foreign works than would otherwise have been the case under their own law. The exception to this is if the work is public domain in the source country on the date of ‘restoration’, this being 1st January 1996 (see below).

The shorter term in the UK

The UK followed the rule of the shorter term until the Copyright Act 1956 (effective 5th November 1956). After that date it did not follow the rule of the shorter term again until 1996 so there is a 40 year gap in the law when the UK did not follow this rule, the reinstatement of the provision NOT being retroactive.

Restoration in the US

In 1994 many countries signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an extensive treaty dealing with many aspects of international trade. This agreement came into effect on 1st January 1996. The GATT agreement required that the US restore copyright protection on foreign works that entered the public domain because foreign copyright owners failed to comply with certain copyright formalities. US copyright law was re-written to incorporate this. Copyright was therefore restored on foreign works published 1923 - 1989 as long as the following three rules applied:-

At least one author is resident in a country with which the US had copyright relations.
The work was first published in a country where the US had copyright relations but not published in the US within 30 days.
The copyright had not already expired in the originating country.

If the copyright had already expired, it was not revived by this agreement.

Copyright durations by country

No Copyright term

Marshall Islands. At this stage the Republic of Marshall Islands is not member to any international convention on copyright but instead applies a non-copyright-based protection regime.

Unknown/unclear copyright term

Cayman Islands
Somalia

Life only

Eritrea (but at least 50 years since publication), Kosovo

Life + 25 years

Libya (with a 50 year minimum)

Life + 30 years

Yemen

Life + 50 years

Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Curaçao, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Caribbean Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Helena, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sint Maarten, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Life + 60 years

Bangladesh, India, Venezuela

Life + 70 years

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia (if death before 1955, term is life + 50 years), Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada (life + 50 before 1972, 75 years from publications for anonymous works), Chile, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union Members, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (for authors that died on or after 7th December 1987, otherwise 80 years), Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States (but see below), Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City

Life + 75 years

Guatemala, Honduras, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa
St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Samoa do not follow the rule of the shorter term, meaning that copyright lasts for 75 years even if the copyright in the originating country has already expired.
Guatemala and Honduras follow the rule of the shorter term, meaning that if the copyright has expired in the originating country, it has also expired in Guatemala and Honduras.

Life + 80 years

Spain (for authors that died before 7th December 1987), Colombia, Equatorial Guinea
Spain, as an EU member, follows the rule of the shorter term towards non-EU members.
Colombia does not follow the rule of the shorter term, meaning that copyright lasts for 80 years even if the copyright in the originating country has already expired.
For Equatorial Guinea additional expiration rules in Article 38 of the Main Equatorial Guinea Intellectual Property Law may affect this.

Life + 95 years

Jamaica (50 if death before 1962). Jamaica does not follow the rule of the shorter term, meaning that copyright lasts for 95 years even if the copyright in the originating country has already expired.

Life + 100 years (Mexico)

Mexico (from 2003, not retroactive). Mexico does not follow the rule of the shorter term, meaning that copyright lasts for 100 years even if the copyright in the originating country has already expired.

1870, 1884 & 1929 Civil codes stipulate life + 30 years

1947 Federal Copyright Act declared life + 20, or 30 years for anonymous works

1956 extended to life + 25 years, retroactive

1963 Federal Copyright Law extended it to life + 30 years, 30 years from publication for anonymous works, not applied retroactively

1975 Mexico signed the Berne convention which stated copyrights must be at least life + 50 years

1982 law amended to life + 50, applied retroactively as long as the copyright hadn’t already expired

1996 law amended to life + 75 years, not applied retroactively

2003 law amended to life + 100 years, not applied retroactively

Note on Frida Kahlo - While some of Frida Kahlo's works may technically enter the public domain in the UK and EU in 2025, the Frida Kahlo Corporation has pending trademarks registered under her name, which will continue to protect the specific goods and services designated in those registrations, including digital products. In this regard, the Frida Kahlo Corporation has a multitude of pending trademark registrations protecting, among other goods, multimedia products in class 09 of the Nice Classification.

As indicated above, these goods include digital images, therefore the commercialisation of any digital image under the ‘Frida Kahlo’ trademarks would constitute trademark infringement.

As far as we can make out, there are only a handful of particular Frida Kahlo images registered for specific applications, and these registrations are still pending, as is the use of the name ‘Frida Kahlo’ in connection to downloadable image files. For now, as the allowable usage doesn’t fit with what we do at Public Domain Image Library (ie. you can’t use the images for ‘any purpose’), we wouldn’t be able to include any Frida Kahlo artwork at this time.