Your U of T Resource Finder
Skip to Content

What if the movie I plan to show was released more than 70 years ago?

The term of copyright is determined by reference to the life of the author, not the release or publication of the work. Copyright subsists for the life of the author plus 70 years. Identifying the “author” of an audiovisual work is not always easy, since many people (director, screenwriter, producer, etc.) will have contributed to it. In any event, copyright in a movie or TV show will usually last considerably longer than 70 years after its initial release.