US copyrights: As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
So actually you don't but your family can keep renewing the copyright.
That would be nice, but there's a loophole in it that says that so long as a publisher tries to get in contact with the present holder of the copyright, assuming the death of the author means it's in the hands of his/her family, then they can go ahead. You have to prove they didn't try to contact you, and it's both nearly impossible and prohibitively expensive unless you hold a massive intellectual property.
Unrelated, but something I learned from directly being fucked over like this just last week.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-09 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.
So actually you don't but your family can keep renewing the copyright.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-12 03:01 am (UTC)(link)Unrelated, but something I learned from directly being fucked over like this just last week.