Copyright term for books: Australia
In Australia, according to the Attorney-General's Department: 70 years after the death of the author for works. As of 2026-09-25.
Australia's Attorney-General's Department states that works are protected for 70 years after the death of the author, and sound recordings and films for 70 years after creation or being made public.
When copyright expires, the department says, the material falls into the public domain and may be used freely without permission.
The department's duration table summarises the rules for different kinds of material.
1In the official wording
70 years after the death of the author for works
Attorney-General's Department, Australia, Copyright basics
When copyright expires, the material falls into the 'public domain' and may be freely used without permission.
Attorney-General's Department, Australia, Copyright basics
- Duration70 years after the death of the author for works
- DurationExpired material falls into the public domain and may be used without permission
2The adaptation step in practice
Once the rights in “Australia” are settled, SceneMixer describes the adaptation itself like this:
Measured across every job that finished successfully on scenemixer.com in the thirty days to 20 September 2026: analysis of a whole book runs about 2 minutes 49 seconds at the median, one episode's storyboard 1 minute 54 seconds, one video segment 3 minutes 20 seconds, and compositing an episode 3 minutes 52 seconds.
SceneMixer, Turn a Novel into a Video Series with AI — “How long does it take to produce one episode?” (read 2026-10-13)
Sixty to a hundred and twenty seconds is the working range for short drama, and that is what the outline paces for. A 90-second episode is typically seven segments of about fourteen seconds stacked together.
SceneMixer, Vertical AI Video Generator — “How long should a vertical episode be?” (read 2026-10-13)
3Next to the other jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | Term | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Life of the author plus 70 years for works created from 1978 | Every work published in the United States before January 1, 1931 is in the public domain |
| United Kingdom | 70 years after the author's death for written works | Once copyright has expired, anyone can use or copy the work |
| European Union | Life of the author and 70 years after death, across the member states | Not stated on the page read |
| Canada | Life of the author, the rest of that calendar year, then 70 years | The 70 years run from the end of the calendar year of death |
| Japan | The author's lifetime and 70 years after death | Not stated on the page read |
| Australia | 70 years after the death of the author for works | Expired material falls into the public domain and may be used without permission |
Inclusion rule. Jurisdictions whose official pages were read. Order. The order they are listed in on this site.
Every one of the six reads 70 years after the author's death for an ordinary book, but the details differ: where the count starts, how older works are handled, and which works count from publication instead of death.
4Other jurisdictions
Then check the text you use: public-domain libraries; and the tool you upload it to: AI tool terms.