How long do copyrights last? > FAQ_Eng KDCA(한국데이터공인인증원)

1. Among copyrights, the author's property rights are owned by the family for 70 years after the death of the copyright holder.

2. Among the copyrights, only the creator has the author's moral right, but it is protected to some extent even after death.

3. The copyright period for joint works is 70 years from the time of death of the last copyright holder.

4. If the date of death of the copyright holder is unknown, it is 70 years from the time the work was published.

1. Author's Property Rights and Author's Moral Rights

Before examining the duration of copyright, it is necessary to divide copyright into author's property rights and author's moral rights. author's property rights is literally a legal right that is in charge of the financial part in relation to creations. It is closely related to copyright fees. author's moral rights is related to the right to disclose creations or reveal the names of creators.

2. The period of author's property right is up to 70 years after death of copyright holder

For creative works, author's property rights related to financial gain can be protected for up to 70 years after the death of the copyright holder. The longer the copyright holder lives, the longer the copyright protection period, and even after death, the creator's family will have copyright rights for a fairly long time of 70 years.

3. Author's moral rights are also protected.

Author's moral rights are, in principle, a right that only creators can have. However, even if the creator dies, the author's moral rights must also be respected to some extent. At least for 70 years while author's property rights are maintained, the reputation of the creators should not be damaged or seriously violated. In addition, even if 70 years have passed since the death of the creator, it is desirable to display the name, which is one of the author's moral rights.

4. How long is the copyright of a collaborative work?

If a creation is the result of a joint effort, it is maintained for 70 years from the date of the last death. On the other hand, if the time of death of the copyright holder is unknown, 70 years from the time the creation was published is applied.

We apply these standards mainly to creative works that we collaborated on while working or created by lesser-known authors.

Copyright is, in principle, protected until 70 years after the death of the author.

However, for works whose protection period has expired before July 1, 2013, the effective date of the amended Act, in which the protection period was extended, the copyright shall survive for 50 years after the death of the author.

Therefore, it is generally considered that copyright in works whose authors died before 1962 has expired.

Since most of the composers of classical music such as Mozart died before 1962, it is safe to say that the copyright of classical music has expired.

But there is something to be aware of here.

Performers who play classical music and producers of music records who record the sounds they play are granted neighboring copyrights, separate from the copyright given to authors such as composers. In other words, even if it is a classical music album, the performer who played the song and the record producer who made the record have neighboring copyrights, so you must obtain permission from the performer and record producer to use the record. Of course, you can use it freely if you have played and recorded classical music yourself.