3 ms·

For corporate "authorship" (i.e., a work made for hire), the term is not to exceed 95 years from the date of publication and not to exceed 120 years from the da

For corporate "authorship" (i.e., a work made for hire), the term is not to exceed 95 years from the date of publication and not to exceed 120 years from the date of creation. 17 U.S.C. § 302(c). https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/302 In the tech world, it's hard to imagine that software or content published today will be relevant in a century, but by not updating the year, you are risking the possibility that copyright protection will be cut off sooner (or more likely and more subtly, future infringers will have an innocent infringement defense).

wongarsu 4y ago
I would assume my git history is at least as good as any date I put in the document itself? Though I'm not sure if either my backups or github will survive for the next 120 years.
toast0 4y ago
> In the tech world, it's hard to imagine that software or content published today will be relevant in a century, but by not updating the year, you are risking the possibility that copyright protection will be cut off sooner (or more likely and more subtly, future infringers will have an innocent infringement defense). Small portions of FreeBSD have been untouched since the AT&T sources. That's halfway through. I don't expect anything I write to live that long, though. But I imagine there's some tidbits here and there at Microsoft.
JohnFen 4y ago
> In the tech world, it's hard to imagine that software or content published today will be relevant in a century It's not that hard to imagine it, really. There is 60 year old software right now that's still relevant and in use, and there is relevant content that is even older.
lamontcg 4y ago
How does slapping a copyright date on every file affect that? AFAIK the file itself is covered under the copyright of the whole work anyway and doesn't even need a copyright notice. If the file itself does need a copyright notice, then how does updating the date continue to perpetuate the copyright an additional year into the future with no further updates to the text? AFAIK republication of a book with a new copyright date does not push copyright dates into the future. Even if you update a few lines in the file, again AFAIK that doesn't update the expiration timer for all the rest of the code. My understanding is that incrementing the data does nothing for the copyright expiration of the file, and that the act of updating the file with new lines of code is what protects those lines of code into the future, and that no copyright notice is even required. It isn't like trademark where failure to notify and defend your trademark can eventually lead to your losing your trademark. Since 1989 copyright notices have not been required under law, but the purpose of a copyright notice is simply to reduce the possibility of an "innocent infringement" defense.

wongarsu 4y ago

I would assume my git history is at least as good as any date I put in the document itself? Though I'm not sure if either my backups or github will survive for the next 120 years.

toast0 4y ago

> In the tech world, it's hard to imagine that software or content published today will be relevant in a century, but by not updating the year, you are risking the possibility that copyright protection will be cut off sooner (or more likely and more subtly, future infringers will have an innocent infringement defense). Small portions of FreeBSD have been untouched since the AT&T sources. That's halfway through. I don't expect anything I write to live that long, though. But I imagine there's some tidbits here and there at Microsoft.

JohnFen 4y ago

> In the tech world, it's hard to imagine that software or content published today will be relevant in a century It's not that hard to imagine it, really. There is 60 year old software right now that's still relevant and in use, and there is relevant content that is even older.

lamontcg 4y ago

How does slapping a copyright date on every file affect that? AFAIK the file itself is covered under the copyright of the whole work anyway and doesn't even need a copyright notice. If the file itself does need a copyright notice, then how does updating the date continue to perpetuate the copyright an additional year into the future with no further updates to the text? AFAIK republication of a book with a new copyright date does not push copyright dates into the future. Even if you update a few lines in the file, again AFAIK that doesn't update the expiration timer for all the rest of the code. My understanding is that incrementing the data does nothing for the copyright expiration of the file, and that the act of updating the file with new lines of code is what protects those lines of code into the future, and that no copyright notice is even required. It isn't like trademark where failure to notify and defend your trademark can eventually lead to your losing your trademark. Since 1989 copyright notices have not been required under law, but the purpose of a copyright notice is simply to reduce the possibility of an "innocent infringement" defense.