Ah, the wonders of the web. Here's a link to the website of the U.S. Copyright office with the recent laws explained.
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#hlc
In particular it states that the law now covers works for the author's life plus 70 years. In the case of work for hire it is now 95 years or 120 years, depending on whether the image was published.
This site also explains much more about what is and is not copyrighted and what does and does not protect someone in wanting to use another person's work.