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Note: The copyright information contained on this site is general and for information only.

For legal advice, please consult a solicitor.

Public Domain - Duration of Copyright

What is the public domain?

The public domain refers to content or material that is no longer covered by copyright. This could be because copyright has expired (see duration table below) or that the copyright owner has specifically dedicated their work to the public domain. This is where the copyright owner gives up all copyright in the work. Note however that a copyright owner or their heirs can always reclaim their work from the public domain as long as the copyright protection period remains. Also be aware that Creative Commons material or GNU software is not really in the public domain, because it relies on copyright protection for the enforcement of the licence terms.

Copyright Duration Chart

Type of Material	Period of Protection
All published works where the author died before 1 January 1955	No longer protected by copyright. Work is in the public domain
Published literary works Published dramatic works Published musical works (written music) Artistic works (except photos taken before 1 January 1955)	70 years after creator’s death
Photos taken before 1 January 1955	No longer protected by copyright. Work is in the public domain
Anonymous and pseudonymous works	70 years after the year of publication
Published editions	25 years after edition was first published
Sound recordings made before 1 Jan 1955	No longer protected by copyright. Work is in the public domain
Sound recordings made after 1 Jan 1955	70 years after recording is first published
Cinematograph films	70 years after film is first published
Television and sound broadcasts made before 1 May 1969	Not protected
Television and sound broadcasts made on or after 1 May 1969	50 years after material is first broadcast
Anonymous and pseudonymous works	70 years after work is first published
Works made by more than one person (i.e. joint authors)	70 years after death of last remaining author
Moral rights of authors/creators	70 years after death of author/creator
Performers’ rights Performers' moral rights the right of attribution and false attribution the right of integrity	20 years after the performance is given 70 years after the date of publication of the sound recording. For the life of the performer
Unpublished works literary works dramatic works musical works (musical notation as written in sheet music) all of which have not been published, performed in public, broadcast, and the records of which have not been sold to the public within the lifetime of the author	70 years after first publication, public performance, broadcast or sale of record
Engravings that are unpublished at time of author’s death	70 years after engraving first published
When Commonwealth or State owns the copyright (crown copyright) literary works dramatic works artistic works musical works sound recordings films	50 years after material is first published, except artistic works which last 50 years from when the artistic work is first created. Unpublished works remain protected.

Printable PDF downloadable version of chart