Standard Tier Module
Copyright Term & Public-Domain Calculator
Compute when a U.S. copyright expires and whether a work is public domain, straight from the statute.
Run it on your own figures, 100% in this browser tab
The problem
Copyright duration rules branch by author type, publication era, and renewal status, and the public-domain wall moves every January 1, so a wrong term date can wrongly clear or block a use.
The local-first solution
A deterministic, client-side calculator applies the exact durations of 17 U.S.C. 302-305 to your dated inputs, citing the controlling section for every result, with nothing about your work uploaded anywhere.
What it does
Individual author: life of the author plus 70 years (302(a))
Joint authors: 70 years after the last surviving author's death (302(b))
Work made for hire, anonymous, pseudonymous: earlier of 95 years from publication or 120 from creation (302(c))
Pre-1978 published works: 95 years from publication, with renewal caveats surfaced (304)
Public-domain status checked against the live browser year (the moving wall)
Every term runs through December 31 of the final year (305)
Honest scope
U.S. law and durations only. It does not resolve foreign-work restoration (104A/GATT), unpublished pre-1978 works, sound recordings, or 1929-1963 renewal research, and you must confirm publication, authorship, and renewal facts. Not legal advice.
Authorities cited
- 17 U.S.C. 302(a) - Individual author: life of the author plus 70 years.
- 17 U.S.C. 302(b) - Joint works: 70 years after the death of the last surviving author.
- 17 U.S.C. 302(c) - Anonymous / pseudonymous / works made for hire: 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first.
- 17 U.S.C. 304 - Pre-1978 works: 95-year term (subject to renewal for works first published 1929-1963).
- 17 U.S.C. 305 - All terms run to the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire.
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Run the term calculation
Compute a copyright term in your browser and route the cited result into a Sandbox set or a Worklog case. Nothing about the work is uploaded to anyone's cloud.