There have been a number of questions on the board of late about copyright, mostly dealing with copyrights held by individuals. My question pertains to copyrights held by coporate entities. Do they ever expire?
For example: I have on video tape some old baseball games, playoffs and World Series and the like. Only for private home use – nothing illeagal there. The announcer’s standard disclaimer tells me that this telecast is copyright by Major League Baseball. As I understand other threads, copyright material becomes public domain 50 years after the death of it’s last surviving principal author. Do I have to wait until every player in the game has passed away? Every cameraman and technician? Or do I have to wait for Major League Baseball Inc. to dissolve?
Or a movie copyright by a studio: is it covered for 50 years beyond the life of the director? Producer? All the actors? Best boy and Lead Grip? Some, none, all of the above? The studio itself? (Theoretically, if the studio went belly-up next year, the copyright could go into public domain before anyone involved in it had died.)
Hope this isn’t too stupid a question…