Copyright Term Extension Act  Copyright Term Extension Act  The
Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 – alternatively
known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono
Act, or pejoratively as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act –
extended copyright terms in the United States by 20 years.
Before the Act (under the Copyright Act of 1976), copyright
would last for the life of the author plus 50 years, or 75 years
for a work of corporate authorship; the Act extended these terms
to life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate
authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after
publication, whichever endpoint is earlier. The Act also
affected copyright terms for copyrighted works published prior
to January 1, 1978, also increasing their term of protection by
20 years, to a total of 95 years from publication.  This law
effectively 'froze' the advancement date of the public domain in
the United States for works covered by the older fixed term
copyright rules. Under this Act, addit