• Recordings that were first published prior to 1924 are in the public domain.
• Recordings that were first published between 1924 and 1946 are copyrighted for a period of 100 years after first publication.
• Recordings that were first published between 1947 and 1956 are copyrighted for a period of 110 years after first publication.
• Recordings that were published after 1956 and first fixed prior to February 15, 1972 will enter the public domain on February 15, 2067.

Note that sound recordings that were first fixed prior to February 15, 1972 are a special case under US copyright law and are not subject to the same formalities as other works. In particular, the terms of protection given above for pre-1972 recordings apply regardless of whether a recording was published with a copyright notice, or whether a recording was registered with the US Copyright Office, or whether a recording's rights were renewed. Files bearing this tag may be deleted in the future, depending on the outcome of community discussions and new case law. If you are the rights holder of this sound recording and do not wish to have it hosted on Commons, please contact our designated agent.

In the United States the term of protection for sound recordings published before January 1, 1924 has expired (See Template:PD-US-record). Works of foreign (non-U.S.) origin must be out of copyright or freely licensed in both their home country and in the United States in order to be accepted on Commons.