dhbailey wrote:
Where do you see that 125 years for a work for hire in the copyright law?
Apparently as a speck on my glasses. Under the copyright revision of
1976, as amended, the length of copyright of a new work extends through
December 31 of the 70th year after the death of the last surviving
author. A work made for hire created after that date, is copyright
through the earlier of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from
creation.
No, I did not mean to suggest there were different lenghts for original
material vs. edited material. However, if a company purchases a
copyright to a song from a composer, the duration of the copyright is 70
years. If the company hires a composer, and as part of the composer's
duty specifies that the composer create one or more compositions, then
under at least some circumstances, the company can secure a longer
copyright on the work for hire. Instead of 70 years from the death of
the composer, the duration is until the earlier of 120 years after the
date of creation, or 95 years from date of publication. The difference
is not original vs. edited material, though. If a company employed a
musicologist to prepare an edition of old music, the edition (though not
the underlying material edited) would be a work for hire, and the
edition would be entitled to the longer term, while if the musicologist
did the same work on his or her own account, the work would be eligible
only for "death plus 70".
ns
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