URAA

Some foreign works that had fallen into the U.S. public domain for failing to follow the renew formalities had their copyright restored on January 1, 1996

Congress passed the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) in 1994 to implement U.S. obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. The URAA amended the copyright law to restore U.S. copyright to certain foreign works that were in the public domain in the United States but protected by copyright in their countries of origin.

To be eligible, a work must meet all of the following requirements:

  1. At the time the work was created, at least one author must have been a national or domiciliary of an eligible country (almost all countries are eligible).

  2. The work is not in the public domain in the eligible source country through expiration of the term of protection.

  3. The work is in the public domain in the United States because it did not comply with formalities.

  4. If published, the work must have been first published in an eligible country and not published in the United States during the 30-day period following its first publication in the source country.

The restored copyrights will last the remainder of the term of copyright that the work would have enjoyed had it complied with the formalities. Generally, the U.S. copyright term for works published before January 1, 1978 lasts for 95 years from the year of first publication.

As of January 1, 1996, all eligible copyrights are restored automatically and no further steps needed to be taken to make a restored copyright fully enforceable.

The 1927 German expressionist science-fiction film Metropolis is an example of work that had its copyright restored for failing to follow the renewal requirements. The film fell into the United States public domain in 1955 when it was not renewed. It stayed there for 41 years before having its copyright restored on January 1, 1996.

1927 copyright registration entry for Metropolis

Metropolis (1927)

The film met all four requirements:

  1. Fritz Lang was a German citizen when he made the film (and Germany is an eligible country).

  2. The film was (and still is) protected under German copyright.

  3. The work fell into the public domain because it failed to comply with the United States renewal formality.

  4. The film first premiered in Berlin, Germany on January 10, 1927 and did not premiere in the United States until November 25, 1927.