Soviet copyright law

[Michael Newcity]

It is NOT true that all Soviet works published prior to 1973 are in the
public domain in the United States.  That was true until the late 1990s
when changes to U.S. law made the situation considerably more complex.

This question raises two distinct, but related, issues:  (1) Is the work in
question in the public domain in Russia?  (2) Is it in the public domain in
the United States?

Some works (e.g., government publications) are not subject to copyright
protection in Russia.  Most other works enter the public domain when their
term of protection expires.  Under the 1993 Russian copyright law,
protection extended for the life of the author plus 50 years.  This
provision was amended in July 2004 to extend copyright protection to the
life of the author plus 70 years.  The law provides for different copyright
periods for specific categories, e.g., works first published posthumously
are protected for 70 years after their first publication.  Under this
provision, a previously unpublished letter of Lenin, who died in 1924,
would be covered by copyright for the next 70 years after its first
publication.  Special rules were also created for works by authors who had
been purged and then, years later, rehabilitated and for veterans of World
War II.

With respect to the United States, a Soviet work published prior to 1973
may still be entitled to copyright protection in the United States if it
has not yet entered the public domain in Russia.  This is the result of
legal changes in both Russia and the United States in the 1990s.  In 1995,
Russia joined the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works.  Finally, as part of the Uruguay Round of the GATT
negotiations, the United States adopted legislation  in 1994 to permit the
restoration of foreign copyrights that had fallen into the public domain in
the United States.  As a member of the Berne Convention, Russian works were
eligible for restoration of copyright protection after 1995.

Under the U.S. legislation the pertinent issue is whether a particular
Russian work has entered the public domain in Russia due to the expiration
of its term.  If it has, it is not eligible for restoration of copyright
protection in the United States, but if it has not entered the public
domain in Russia its copyright protection may be restored.

Thus, if the specific question relates to the publication in the United
States of works published in the Soviet Union prior to 1973, I'm afraid the
answer is that each individual work's status must be determined on a
case-by-case basis.

One final note: the 2004 amendments to the Russian copyright law also added
a provision restoring copyright protection to works by foreign works that
were previously in the public domain in Russia, as long as those works have
not entered the public domain in their country of origin, bringing Russian
law into compliance with the Berne Convention in this regard.

Regards,
Michael Newcity


Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies
Duke University
303 Languages Building
Box 90260
Durham, NC  27708-0260
Tel.: 919-660-3150
Fax: 919-660-3188

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