A work is protected from CREATION until
Individual/Joint Work
75 years after the author or last surviving author’s death
Anonymous/Pseudonymous/Work for Hire
95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation (whichever is first)
A work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time; where a work is prepared over a period of time, the portion of it that has been fixed at any particular time constitutes the work as of that time, and where the work has been prepared in different versions, each version constitutes a separate work. 17 USC § 101
