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Simple English definitions for legal terms
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
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A quick definition of Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act:
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act is a law that adds 20 years to the amount of time that someone can own the rights to something they created. This law applies to things that were made in the United States after January 1, 1978. For things that were made before that date, the law says that the owner can keep the rights for 95 years from the date they first got them. The law is named after a man named Sonny Bono who wanted to make sure that people could keep making money from things they created for a longer time.
A more thorough explanation:
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act is a federal law that extends the copyright term for creative works. This law adds 20 years to the copyright term for all works published in the United States after January 1, 1978. It also sets the copyright term for works created before 1978 as 95 years from the original copyright date.
Before this law was passed, the copyright term was the life of the author plus 50 years. This means that after the author died, their work would be protected for an additional 50 years. The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act extends this protection for an additional 20 years.
For example, if a book was published in the United States in 1990, the copyright term would have expired in 2040 under the old law. However, with the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, the copyright term for this book would now expire in 2060.
The law is named after Congressman Sonny Bono, who sponsored the bill. Unfortunately, he passed away before the bill became law.