Copyright Duration Calculator

U.S. copyright terms depend on when a work was published or created and who authored it. This calculator applies the duration rules of 17 U.S.C. §§ 302, 303, 304, and 305, as summarized in the Copyright Office's Circular 15a, Duration of Copyright, and tells you the year the copyright expires and the January 1 the work enters the public domain. It runs entirely in your browser. Educational only, not legal advice.

Publication means copies were distributed to the public, not just that the work exists.
For a joint work, use the year the last surviving author died. Leave blank if the author is still living.

Caveats this calculator cannot capture

  • Terms run to December 31. Under § 305, every term runs through the end of the calendar year in which it would otherwise expire, so works enter the public domain on the following January 1.
  • Pre-1978 formalities. Works published in the U.S. before 1978 without a proper copyright notice generally entered the public domain immediately. Works published 1931-1963 also had to be renewed in their 28th year; a large share never were and are already in the public domain despite what this calculator shows. Renewal became automatic for works published 1964-1977.
  • Foreign works may have been restored. Under § 104A, many foreign works that fell into the U.S. public domain for failure to comply with formalities had their copyrights restored. Do not assume a foreign work is free just because it missed a U.S. formality.
  • Sound recordings made before February 15, 1972 follow their own schedule under the Music Modernization Act (§ 1401; see the Copyright Office's pre-1972 sound recordings page). Recordings first published before 1923 have been in the public domain since January 1, 2022. Recordings published 1923-1946 get 100 years from publication; 1947-1956 recordings get 110 years; recordings published 1957 through February 14, 1972 are protected until February 15, 2067. Note that this schedule covers the recording; the underlying musical composition follows the ordinary rules above.
  • U.S. law only. Terms differ abroad; most of the world uses life plus 70 or life plus 50 without the U.S. publication-year rules.

Sources: U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15a: Duration of Copyright; 17 U.S.C. §§ 302-305 (Cornell LII); Copyright Office, Pre-1972 Sound Recordings.

Educational tool, not legal advice. Duration questions can turn on facts this calculator does not ask about: notice, renewal, restoration, joint authorship disputes, and what counts as publication. Verify important dates with the U.S. Copyright Office or a licensed attorney.