Note: I am not an attorney. The following are generalizations only based on my study of copyright law and are not meant to be construed as legal advice. If you have a question, consult a competent attorney specializing in copyrights and intellectual property law.

Copyright, always a confusing area to non-lawyers (and perhaps to some lawyers!) has been further complicated by the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act (1998). This act is on top of numerous previous changes in the length of copyright protection made from the early 1900s onward.

Under the latest iteration of the law (1978), works by individual authors were protected until 50 years after the year of the author's death. The Bono extension increases this to 70 years.

The real change, however, is for so-called corporate copyrights (such as Disney's Mickey Mouse), which previously were afforded 75 years of protection, dating from the date of creation. After Bono, protection was increased to 95/120 years. Congress has the power, of course, to increase protection in addition to what Bono enacts.

The Bono Act has been vilified as a favor to the Disney company, which lobbied very aggressively, skillfully (including campaign contributions), and largely without public notice, to protect the character Mickey Mouse and others from falling into the public domain in 2004. Other American icons which will not fall into public domain as a result of this copyright extension include Winnie the Pooh (guess who owns the rights?), the music of George Gershwin, and the Hill Sisters' Good Morning to You/Happy Birthday to You.

Some feel that the Bono extension essentially provides "eternal copyright," something that the Constitution does not grant (U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8). Justice Sandra Day O'Connor writes: "The primary objective of copyright is not to reward the labor of authors, but 'To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.' To this end, copyright assures authors the right to their original expression, but encourages others to build freely upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work. This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate. It is the means by which copyright advances the progress of science and art." Congress has the power to extend protection, however, and when Congress continues to increase protection time, the result is de facto eternal copyright protection.

The same group feels that not making such American cultural "landmarks" available for others to use and develop stifles creativity and discourages innovation.

Naturally, there is the opposing view that an individual's (or a company's) works deserve to be used as the creator sees fit.

Summary of copyright protection after Bono (as I understand it):

• Works published Jan. 1, 1978, and after are protected for 70 years after the death of the author. For joint works, it is 70 years after the death of the last author to die.

• Works "published" by corporations and created by employees as part of their jobs (called work-for-hire) are protected for 95 years from publication or for 120 years from creation.

• Works created before Jan. 1, 1978, but not published by that date are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years or until Dec. 31, 2002, whichever is later. If the work is published on or before Dec. 31, 2002, protection will expire on Dec. 31, 2047, regardless of when the author died.

• Works created between Jan. 1, 1923, and Dec. 31, 1977, have protection based on renewal periods/dates rather than the author's death date. Works from this era will require careful research in the Copyright Office's records to find out if a renewal was made during the appropriate window. If this was not done or not done properly, protection expired after the first term, and the work has fallen into the public domain. If, however, renewals were done correctly, the maximum protection period is 95 years.

• Similarly, works created January 1, 1964, through December 31, 1977, are protected for 95 years from the date of creation.

• Works created in 1922 or before are now public domain. No new material will enter the public domain for another 20 years.