An author’s article published gets protection for life plus how many years under the 1976 Copyright Act?

An author’s article published gets protection for life plus how many years under the 1976 Copyright Act?

• A. 50
• B. 60
• C. 70
• D. 80

Answer: (C)

Copyright protection for a work created by an individual author runs for the author's life plus a fixed number of years after death. The 1976 Act originally set life plus 50 years, but this term was extended by the Sonny Bono Act to life plus 70 years for works created by individuals. For an author’s article, that means protection lasts through the author’s life and continues for 70 years after death. That’s why seventy years is the correct duration. The older term of fifty years is outdated for individual authors, and eighty years isn’t the standard term used.

Copyright protection for a work created by an individual author runs for the author's life plus a fixed number of years after death. The 1976 Act originally set life plus 50 years, but this term was extended by the Sonny Bono Act to life plus 70 years for works created by individuals. For an author’s article, that means protection lasts through the author’s life and continues for 70 years after death. That’s why seventy years is the correct duration. The older term of fifty years is outdated for individual authors, and eighty years isn’t the standard term used.