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 Chapter 1300

RENEWAL OF COPYRIGHT

. Section 304(a) of the copyright law provides that "any copyright, the first term of which is subsisting on January 1, 1978," endures for 28 years from the date it was originally secured, and that a renewal term of copyright lasting 47 years, can be secured by certain designated claimants if an application for renewal is made to the Copyright Office "within one year prior to the expiration of the original term of copy­ right." The law specifies that all such terms of copyright run to the end of the calendar year in which they would otherwise expire. See 17 U.S.C. 305. This not only affects the dura­tion of copyright: it also affects the time limits for renewal registration. See section 1302 below.

NOTE: For works that were in their renewal term of copyright on December 31, 1977, the law auto­matically extended the copyright to last for a total of 75 years (a first term of 28 years plus a renewal term of 47 years) measured from

1300-1 [1984]