Copyright is a set of legal norms and principles that affirm the moral and patrimonial rights that the law grants to authors, for the simple fact of the creation of a literary, artistic, musical, scientific or didactic work, be published or unpublished The legislation on copyright in the West begins in 1710 with the Statute of Queen Anne.
It is recognized that copyright is the fundamental human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.1
In Anglo-Saxon law, the notion of copyright is used (literally translated as 'copying right'), which usually includes the patrimonial part of the copyright (economic rights).
A work enters the public domain when the economic rights have expired. This usually happens after a time since the death of the author (post mortem auctoris). The minimum time, worldwide, is 50 years and is established in the Berne Convention. Many countries have extended that time widely. For example, in European law, it is 70 years since the death of the author. Once that time has passed, that work can then be used freely, respecting moral rights.
Evolution of copyright
In 1790, the works protected by the Copyright Act of the United States were only "maps, navigation charts and books" (it did not cover musical or architectural works). This copyright granted the author the exclusive right to publish the works, so that only that right was violated if he reprinted the work without the permission of the owner. In addition, this right did not extend to "derivative works" (it was an exclusive right on the work in particular), so it did not prevent translations or adaptations of said text. Over the years, the copyright holder obtained the exclusive right to control any publication of his work. His rights were extended, from the work in particular, to any derivative work that could arise based on the "original work".
Also, the Congress of the United States increased in 1831 the initial term of copyright from 14 to 21 years (that is, it reached a maximum of 42 years of protection) and in 1909 extended the renewal period from 21 to 28 years ( obtaining a maximum of 56 years of protection). And, from the 50s, began to extend the existing terms on a regular basis (1962, 1976 and 1998).