Copyright Act 1994

Description, ownership, and duration of copyright - Duration of copyright

22: Duration of copyright in literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works

You could also call this:

"How long copyright lasts for things you create"

When you create a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work, you own the copyright. This copyright usually lasts for 50 years after you die. If you made the work on a computer, the copyright lasts for 50 years after the work was made. If nobody knows who made the work, the copyright lasts for 50 years after it was first made available to the public. You can make a work available to the public by performing it, communicating it, exhibiting it, or showing it in a film. If someone finds out who made a work after the copyright has expired, the copyright will not start again. If you worked with someone else to create a work, the copyright lasts for 50 years after the last person dies. This section does not apply to some types of works, such as those covered by section 26 or section 28. You can find more information about these sections by following the links to section 26 and section 28.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM345932.

This page was last updated on 3 December 2025 — View changes

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21: First ownership of copyright, or

"Who owns the copyright when you create something?"

23: Duration of copyright in sound recordings and films, or

"How long copyright lasts for music and films"

Part 1Description, ownership, and duration of copyright
Duration of copyright

22Duration of copyright in literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works

Subject to the following provisions of this section, copyright in a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies.
If the work is computer-generated, copyright expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work is made.
If the work is of unknown authorship, copyright expires at the end of the period of 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it is first made available to the public by an authorised act.
For the purposes of subsection (3), the circumstances in which a work may be made available to the public include,—
in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work,—
1. performance in public:
2. communication to the public:
in the case of an artistic work,—
1. exhibition in public:
2. the playing or showing in public of a film that includes the work:
3. communication to the public.

If—
a work is of unknown authorship; and
copyright in the work has expired pursuant to subsection (3); and
the identity of the author becomes known after the copyright has expired,—

In relation to a work of joint authorship,—
the reference in subsection (1) to the death of the author shall be construed,—
1. if the identity of all the authors is known, as a reference to the last of them to die:
2. if the identity of 1 or more, but not all, of the authors is known, as a reference to the death of the last of the authors whose identity is known; and
the reference in subsection (5) to the identity of the author becoming known shall be construed as a reference to the identity of any of the authors becoming known.

This section does not apply to copyright in a work to which section 26 or section 28 applies.

Compare

1962 No 33 s 8(1)

Notes

Section 22(4): substituted, on 31 October 2008, by section 14 of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 27).