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Just to clear up a little confusion - registration is not a prerequisite to receive copyright for your work. Copyright is a right that is automatically given to an author, irregardless of their national origin.
Both the US and Denmark (where the DIKU team was based) are members of the WCT (WIPO Copyright Treaty) and prior to that to UCC Paris 1971 (1974 for the US), which guarantees copyrighted Danish works protections through local legislation in the US.
Section 104 of title 17 of the US Code states:
"Subject matter of copyright: National origin:
...
(b) Published works. The works specified by sections 102 and 103, when published, are subject to protection under this title if: -
(2) the work is first published in the United States or in a foreign nation that, on the date of first publication, is a treaty party"
There are some differences in the copyright legislation, but since the EU recently issued a directive (that has been turned into local laws) extending the period of copyright to 70 years after the authors death (some exceptions for photographs and databases apply), the period of copyright is similar for US and Denmark.
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