When Does Copyright Expire
Apply supported post-1977 U.S. life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms and show the next-January public-domain checkpoint. Inputs stay in your browser.
For supported post-1977 U.S. works, the calculation ends the statutory term on December 31 of the applicable year and shows the following January 1 as the public-domain entry date.
Context matters.
- Works created or published before 1978 can depend on publication, notice, registration and renewal history and are intentionally blocked from this simplified path.
- For anonymous, pseudonymous and works-made-for-hire, the term is generally the earlier of 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation.
- A public-domain conclusion for one underlying work does not clear a later edition, translation, arrangement, recording, trademark, publicity right or foreign copyright.
Sources & scope
The calculation guide and this source trail show what the result means, where the rule came from and when it was last reviewed. This is source-and-calculation QA, not a claim of medical, legal, tax or other professional review; time-sensitive decisions still belong with the linked authority.
A visible path from input to answer.
Apply supported post-1977 U.S. life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms and show the next-January public-domain checkpoint. The page keeps the calculation scope and its limits beside the result so the output can be checked, copied or revisited.
- Read the record. The calculator uses Work creation date, U.S. authorship category, Author / last surviving author death date, First publication status and First publication date and 3 additional fields supplied in the form.
- Apply the scope. It applies the United States post-1977 copyright-term planning — authorship, creation, publication, death and special-status records control reference and the explicit date, unit and counting conventions shown in the result.
- Expose the checkpoints. Intermediate rows, warnings and timeline events stay visible; the emphasized row identifies the primary checkpoint when one exists.
For supported post-1977 U.S. works, the calculation ends the statutory term on December 31 of the applicable year and shows the following January 1 as the public-domain entry date.
- Permission to use the workNot determined
Calculation purpose: Apply supported post-1977 U.S. life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms and show the next-January public-domain checkpoint. This is a high-sensitivity reference output; the linked authority or qualified professional controls the final decision.
Calendar inputs use plain year-month-day semantics. Leap days, month ends, date-pair order and unsupported dates are checked before the result is shown.
Rule set 1.1.0 · Last reviewed 2026-08-20 · Next review due 2027-02-20. The source panel below contains the linked evidence.
What to know before using the result.
Why are pre-1978 works blocked?
Their U.S. term can depend on publication, notice, registration and renewal history. The post-1977 life-plus-70 and 95/120-year paths are not enough.
How is a work-made-for-hire term calculated?
For the supported current-law path, it is generally the earlier of 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation.
Does the date clear every use of the work?
No. Later editions, translations, arrangements, sound recordings, trademarks, publicity rights, restoration and foreign law may still apply.