Public Domain 2019
January 1, 2019 - a time to reflect on the year previous as well as look forward to the year ahead. Something is different about this year, though. It's also Public Domain Day in the United States. What does this mean? Works published in 1923 have now entered the public domain, meaning they are free to use for whatever purpose you wish - reading, remixing, throwing public screenings, and so on. For yes, this public domain extends to some films and music, as well! Okay, but don't new works enter the public domain every year? Why is this year so special? Ah, dear reader, that's where you are incorrect. While a small handful of unpublished works have entered the public domain in recent years, no published works have entered the public domain since 1998. "Works from 1923 were set to go into the public domain in 1999, after a 75-year copyright term. But in 1998 Congress hit a two-decade pause button and extended their copyright term for 20 years, giving works published between 1923 and 1977 an expanded term of 95 years" (Center for the Study of Public Domain, Duke University, 2018). So this is quite a big deal. Now, some of these may have had their copyright lapse according to the old law, and might have been in the public domain for some time. However, if one still wanted to use that material, she'd have to have done due diligence to make sure, avoiding a potential lawsuit. After January 1, 2019, however, it's a surety that, if the work was originally published prior to 1923 in the United States, it is now public domain. Most of these are books forgotten to time, though, right? So only really die-hard nerds care . . . As I stated earlier, it's not just books! A few items entering the public domain:
Cecil B. De Mille's The Ten Commandments
Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room
songs such as "Charleston" and "Yes! We Have No Bananas"
For a fuller, but not exhaustive, list, Duke University has compiled an Excel spreadsheet that can be found here. Happy New Year!