The Duration of Copyright

• Author: Lesley Ellen Harris
• Profession: Lawyer, author, and educator
• Pages: 123-134

123

CHAPTER 8

The Duration of Copyright

Be ready when opportunity comes... . Luck is the time when preparation and

opportunity meet.

—Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919–2000)

A Limited Duration

Unlike physical property, ownership in copyright material has a limited

duration. Whereas you can own your house for an inde nite amount of

time, you can only own the copyright in your book or sculpture for the

period of time stipulated in the Copyright Act.

General Rule for Works

There is a general rule concerning the duration of copyright. The gen-

eral rule applies unless speci c provisions exist in the Act for that type

of work or situation. These speci c provisions are outlined below and

should be read along with the general rule.

General Rule

The Copyright Act provides the general rule for the length of copyright

protection for published works as “the life of the author, the remainder

of the calendar year in which the author dies, and a period of 50 years

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