Today in Copyright History: 10/19
On October 19, 1976, President Gerald Ford signed the fourth general revision of the copyright law. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended federal protection to all works, both unpublished and published, once they are fixed in a tangible form. The new copyright term for works created on or after January 1, 1978, the effective date of the law, was the life of an author plus fifty years.
Reposted from the History of Copyright Timeline at the U.S. Copyright Office.