JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum Copyright Laws are Confusing...

The Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 extended copyright terms in the United States. Since the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years for a work of corporate authorship. The 1976 Act also increased the extension term for works copyrighted before 1978 that had not already entered the public domain from twenty-eight years to forty-seven years, giving a total term of seventy-five years. The 1998 Act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier.[1] Copyright protection for works published prior to January 1, 1978, was increased by 20 years to a total of 95 years from their publication date.

So it all depends on date of publication and whether it's corporate ownership or not. So I'm still not sure if "The Way You Look Tonight" is Public Domain. Jerome Kern died Nov. 11th, 1945. Which would adhere to the “Life plus 70 years” rule. However now I have to figure out if it was corporate owned (like Warner's with Happy Birthday) and also when and whom published it. You would think with the amount of fees the Copyright Office collects for registering songs; they would be obligated to include a public domain list on their website. From what I was told by one of my publishers, the only way one can be sure of PD status is through the Copyright Office. I checked with them a few years back on a song, and they told me it would cost $300 for them to check it out.

All this being said; I have noticed versions of “The Way You Look Tonight” on music library websites. Maybe I should just let it go…

John