| Fullname: | To amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes. |
| Nickname: | Copyright Term Extension Act, Mickey Mouse Protection Act, Sonny Bono Act |
| Acronym: | CTEA |
| Enacted By: | 105th |
| Effective Date: | October 27, 1998 |
| Acts Amended: | Copyright Act of 1976 |
| Title Amended: | 17 (Copyrights) |
| Sections Amended: | 17 U.S.C. §§ 108, 203(a)(2), 301(c), 302, 303, 304(c)(2) |
| Leghisturl: | https://www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/senate-bill/505 |
| Introducedin: | Senate |
| Introducedby: | Orrin Hatch (R–UT) |
| Introduceddate: | March 20, 1997 |
| Passedbody1: | Senate |
| Passeddate1: | October 7, 1998 |
| Passedvote1: | unanimous consent |
| Passedbody2: | House |
| Passeddate2: | October 7, 1998 |
| Passedvote2: | voice vote |
| Signedpresident: | Bill Clinton |
| Signeddate: | October 27, 1998 |
| Scotus Cases: | Eldred v. Ashcroft |
| Shorttitle: | Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act |
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several acts extending the terms of copyright.[1]
Following the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright would last for the life of the author plus 50 years (or the last surviving author), or 75 years from publication or 100 years after creation, whichever is shorter for a work of corporate authorship (works made for hire) and anonymous and pseudonymous works. The 1976 Act also increased the renewal term for works copyrighted before 1978 that had not already entered the public domain from 28 years to 47 years, giving a total term of 75 years.[2]
The 1998 Act extended these terms to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 95 years from publication or 120 years after creation, whichever end is earlier.[3] For works published before January 1, 1978, the 1998 act extended the renewal term from 47 years to 67 years, granting a total of 95 years.
This law effectively froze the advancement date of the public domain in the United States for works covered by the older fixed term copyright rules. Under this Act, works made in 1923 or afterwards that were still protected by copyright in 1998 would not enter the public domain until January 1, 2019, or later. Mickey Mouse specifically, having first appeared in 1928 in Steamboat Willie, entered the public domain in 2024[4] with other works following later in accordance with the product's date. Unlike copyright extension legislation in the European Union, the Sonny Bono Act did not revive copyrights that had already expired, and therefore is not retroactive in that sense. The Act did extend the terms of protection set for works that were already copyrighted and were created before it took effect, so it is retroactive in that sense. However, works created before January 1, 1978, but not published or registered for copyright until recently, are addressed in a special section and may remain protected until the end of 2047. The Act became on October 27, 1998.
Prior to the passage of the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress passed nine incremental extensions between 1962 and 1974 for works that were in their renewal term whose copyright began between September 19, 1906, and December 31, 1918. In the Eldred v. Ashcroft decision, the Supreme Court noted that these extensions "were all temporary placeholders subsumed into the systemic changes effected by the 1976 Act."[5] As a result, these works entered the public domain on January 1, following the end of the 75th calendar year after their publication.
Under the international Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886, the signatory countries are required to provide copyright protection for a minimum term of the life of the author plus fifty years. Additionally, they are permitted to provide for a longer term of protection. The Berne Convention did not come into force for the United States until it was ratified on March 1, 1989, but the U.S. had previously provided for the minimum copyright term the convention required in the Copyright Act of 1976.
After the United States' accession to the Berne convention, a number of copyright owners successfully lobbied the U.S. Congress for another extension of the term of copyright, to provide for the same term of protection that exists in Europe. Since the 1993 Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection, member states of the European Union implemented protection for a term of the author's life plus seventy years.
The act was named in memory of the late Congressman Sonny Bono, who died nine months before the act became law: he had previously been one of twelve sponsors of a similar bill.
House members sympathetic to restaurant and bar owners, who were upset over ASCAP and BMI licensing practices, almost derailed the Act. As a result, the bill was amended to include the Fairness in Music Licensing Act, which exempted smaller establishments from needing a public performance license to play music.[6]
Both houses of the United States Congress passed the act as Public Law 105-298 with a voice vote.[7] [8] President Bill Clinton signed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 on October 27, 1998.[9]
As a result of extensions, including the 1976 and 1998 extensions, a small number of renewed works, within a span of 40 years, entered the public domain:
| Works of | Protected by | Copyright expired on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | 1909 Copyright Act | By the end of 1961 | |
| 1907 | 1976 Copyright Act | January 1, 1983 | |
| 1921 | 1976 Copyright Act | January 1, 1997[10] | |
| 1922 | 1976 Copyright Act | ||
| 1923 | Copyright Term Extension Act |
The Senate Report[11] gave the official reasons for passing copyright extension laws and was originally written in the context of the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1995.[12]
The authors of the report believed that extending copyright protection would help the United States by providing more protection for their works in foreign countries and by giving more incentive to digitize and preserve works since there was an exclusive right in them. The report also included minority opinions by Herb Kohl and Hank Brown, who believed that the term extensions were a financial windfall to current owners of copyrighted material at the expense of the public's use of the material.
Since 1990, The Walt Disney Company had lobbied for copyright extension. The legislation delayed the entry into the public domain of the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons, leading detractors to the nickname "The Mickey Mouse Protection Act".
In addition to Disney, California congresswoman Mary Bono (Sonny Bono's widow and Congressional successor), and the estate of composer George Gershwin supported the act. Mary Bono, speaking on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, said: