Copyright term for books: United States
In the United States, according to the U.S. Copyright Office: life of the author plus 70 years for works created from 1978. As of 2026-09-25.
In the United States, works created from 1978 are protected for the author's life plus 70 years. Older works ran on a system of publication and renewal terms, extended to a maximum of 95 years.
The Copyright Office's circular states that every work published in the United States before January 1, 1931 is now in the public domain. Under that rule the line moves forward by a year of publications each January.
Unpublished works follow other rules, which the circular also covers.
1In the official wording
gives it a term lasting for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years
U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15A, Duration of Copyright
all works published in the United States before January 1, 1931, are in the public domain.
U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15A, Duration of Copyright
to 95 years (a first term of 28 years plus a renewal term of 67 years)
U.S. Copyright Office, Circular 15A, Duration of Copyright
- Works created since 1978Life of the author plus 70 years for works created from 1978
- Works published before 1978Every work published in the United States before January 1, 1931 is in the public domain
- Works published before 1978Older published works ran up to 95 years: a first term of 28 years and a renewal of 67
2The adaptation step in practice
Once the rights in “United States” 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)
A script longer than about 10,000 characters (counted as Chinese-equivalent characters) is read in two passes: first the cast, sets and props, then the episode list with a short outline per episode.
SceneMixer, Long Scripts Are Read in Two Passes: What “Preparing Episodes” Means and Why Some Episodes Open Later (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.