Sound recordings from before 1972 are all in public domain.

Sound recordings from before 1972 are all in public domain.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only in certain cases
• D. It depends on the recording

Answer: (B)

Public-domain status for sound recordings in the United States isn’t decided by a simple cut-off year. Federal protection for sound recordings didn’t exist before 1972, and before then any rights typically came from state law, which varied by state and could still protect certain works. Even after 1972, not all pre-1972 recordings become public domain automatically—some remained under state copyright, and later federal changes did not universally place every older recording into the public domain. So you can’t claim that all sound recordings made before 1972 are public domain; the actual status depends on where and how the recording was created, published, and renewed under applicable laws.

Public-domain status for sound recordings in the United States isn’t decided by a simple cut-off year. Federal protection for sound recordings didn’t exist before 1972, and before then any rights typically came from state law, which varied by state and could still protect certain works. Even after 1972, not all pre-1972 recordings become public domain automatically—some remained under state copyright, and later federal changes did not universally place every older recording into the public domain. So you can’t claim that all sound recordings made before 1972 are public domain; the actual status depends on where and how the recording was created, published, and renewed under applicable laws.