Pornography

The sound recording of "Pornography" by The Cure, released in 1995, is protected under federal copyright law in the United States. This is because the recording was fixed on or after February 15, 1972, which is the effective date for federal protection of sound recordings under the Music Modernization Act (MMA). Specifically, Section 1401 of the US Copyright Act, as amended by the MMA, extends federal copyright protection to all sound recordings fixed on or after this date. Prior to the MMA, recordings from this period were already protected by federal copyright, but the MMA clarified and streamlined these protections, especially for older recordings. Since "Pornography" was released in 1995, it falls well within the scope of recordings afforded federal protection. The Cure, a prominent band, released this recording through Fiction Records, an imprint often associated with Polydor and Universal Music Group. This further supports its status as a commercially distributed work that would have been subject to standard copyright practices and registrations. The federal copyright for this sound recording would generally last for 95 years from its publication date if it was considered a work made for hire, which is typical for commercial record label releases. Therefore, the recording of "Pornography" will remain protected in the U.S. until 2090.