What is the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (CTEA)?
The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) of 1998 was established to lengthen the time in which copyrighted material would be considered non-public domain material. The CTEA was built to extend the original provisions of a copyright act established in 1790 by the US government, and the follow-up copyright act of 1976. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate voted in the majority for the CTEA. President Clinton signed the act in late 1998. Thus the CTEA had bipartisan support, although Bono had served the Republican Party during his lifetime. The CTEA was the brainchild of former entertainer Sonny Bono. Bono later became an elected member of the House of Representatives. His life was tragically cut short by a skiing accident in January of 1998. His wife Mary Bono, was elected to take his place in the House, and further promoted the CTEA.
