Copyright term for photographs

The term of copyright for photographs sometimes differs from that of other works of art, and I am trying to determine why. For example, under the present Israeli copyright law (essentially the British copyright law of 1911, a left-over from the Mandate period), photographs enjoy copyright for 50 years from the creation of the negative. I understand that this is the base term for photographs according to the Berne convention as well. Am I correct in believing that in the US, the term for photographs is the same as that for other works of art (70 years from death of author/artist)? What is the term under present UK law? Other European countries?

Does anyone know *why* the term for photographs differs?

Many thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

amalyah keshet
head of visual resources (photo services / rights & reproductions) the israel museum, jerusalem
akeshet[_at_]imj.org.il
fax: +972-2-670-8064
visit our website: http://www.imj.org.il/ Received on Wed Aug 11 1999 - 11:37:52 GMT