For works created on or after January 1, 1978, copyright expires 70
years after the author's death and is not renewable. For works created
jointly by multiple authors, the date of the last surviving author's
death is used. Interestingly, the exception to the 70-year rule is in
the case of works registered anonymously or pseudonymously: If the
writer's real name does not appear in the Copyright Office records,
then the copyright expires either 95 years from publication, or 120
years from creation, whichever is shorter.
International Considerations
There is no such thing as an international copyright. Protection of
a literary work in any given country depends on that country's laws.
However, many countries are parties to one or more international
copyright conventions (such as the Berne Convention, mentioned
earlier). In those countries, you can protect your work by complying
with the conditions of the applicable convention. The Copyright Office
offers a brochure that lists most countries and notes what conventions each is party to.
What Are All These Numbers?
It should be noted that a copyright registration number, a Library
of Congress control number, and an ISBN (International Standard Book
Number) are three separate items. For information on ISBNs, go to www.isbn.org, or, to learn more about Library of Congress control numbers, see http://pcn.loc.gov/pcn.
"Poor Man's Copyright"
One time-honored piece of advice to writers is that if you simply
mail yourself a copy of your manuscript, then keep the unopened
envelope in a safe place, the postmark will prove that you created the
work prior to the date you mailed it.
I don't recommend this method. While it's true that a postmark is
fairly strong evidence of the date something was mailed, I wouldn't
want to be in court against an infringer with nothing but a sealed
envelope and a postmark to make my case. If the infringer's attorney is
the least bit intelligent, she'll point out that all I had to do was
mail myself an unsealed envelope and then slip whatever I wanted into
it at a later date.
In fact, if you used a computer to write your story, the markers on
your hard drive showing when the file was created are probably better
evidence than any postmark, because they're much harder to falsify. But
don't rely on your computer as your star witness, either. We all know
hard drives have been known to fry at the most inopportune times.
Copyright registration only costs $30 plus postage, and, given the
fact that you can even lump several short works into one unit for
purposes of the application and fee, that's an incredibly cheap way to
secure binding legal protection. Isn't your hard work worth as much as
10 cups of Starbucks coffee?