It is kind of wacky, but it's wacky for a reason. Prior to 1978 (the 1976 Copyright Act too effect Jan 1. 1978), unpublished and unregistered works were covered by state copyright laws. Federal law only kicked in when a work was published or registered. State laws usually protected unpublished works forever.
The 1976 changed all that. State copyright law essentially went away, preempted by the new federal law. State copyrights went away, too. The really wacky law on publication was included in the 1976 Act primarily to ease the transition into the federal system. Those pre-1978 unpublished works didn't automatically go *poof*, instead, the new federal law gave a guaranteed minimum 25-year term under the new law.
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It is kind of wacky, but it's wacky for a reason. Prior to 1978 (the 1976 Copyright Act too effect Jan 1. 1978), unpublished and unregistered works were covered by state copyright laws. Federal law only kicked in when a work was published or registered. State laws usually protected unpublished works forever.
The 1976 changed all that. State copyright law essentially went away, preempted by the new federal law. State copyrights went away, too. The really wacky law on publication was included in the 1976 Act primarily to ease the transition into the federal system. Those pre-1978 unpublished works didn't automatically go *poof*, instead, the new federal law gave a guaranteed minimum 25-year term under the new law.