A copyright is forever

New York’s common law copyright, like a diamond, lasts forever, according to a new decision by the state’s Court of Appeals, as reported by the New York Law Journal and Law.com.  Under the decision, musical recordings, unlike the written compositions, do not go into the public domain after a time, so that every music recording ever made, from Thomas Edison forward, is still under copyright, at least in New York.  The 7-0 decision was written by Judge Victoria Graffeo.