2020 In Public Domain
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When a work's
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
expires, it enters the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. The following is a list of creators whose works entered the public domain in 2020. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works is not uniform.


Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
(Life + 50 years) and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
(which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
in Europe at the end of the calendar year following 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. Russia has a 4-year extension to Life+ 70 (in essence Life+74) for authors who worked during World War II in the Soviet Union.Directive 2006/116/EC
/ref> The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2020.


Countries with life + 60 years

In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.


Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
,
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
; a work enters the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
at the end of the calendar year following 50 years after the creator's death.


Entering the public domain in Australia

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with America and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some European authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors would come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955). Unpublished works by authors who died in 1949 entered the public domain on 1 January 2020. Any published literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work (other than computer programs) by a not generally known author (anonymous or pseudonymous) from 1949 also entered the public domain on that date.


Entering the public domain in the United States

Works that entered the public domain on January 1, 2020, in the United States include: * In general, works published in 1924 (including printed music). However, sound recordings that were first made prior to February 15, 1972, are treated as a special case under US copyright law, and under the
Music Modernization Act The Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, or Music Modernization Act or MMA (, ) is United States legislation signed into law on October 11, 2018, aimed to modernize copyright-related issues for music and audio recordings due ...
, sound recordings published in 1924 will enter the public domain in 2025. *
Books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...
,
films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...
, and other works published in 1924 (under the
Copyright Term Extension Act The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act – also known as the Copyright Term Extension Act, Sonny Bono Act, or (derisively) the Mickey Mouse Protection Act – extended copyright terms in the United States in 1998. It is one of several ac ...
). * Unpublished works whose authors died in 1949. Some of the published works that entered the public domain include the earliest sheet music for George Gershwin's ''
Rhapsody in Blue ''Rhapsody in Blue'' is a 1924 musical composition for solo piano and jazz band by George Gershwin. Commissioned by bandleader Paul Whiteman, the work combines elements of classical music with jazz-influenced effects and premiered in a concer ...
'' and
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...
's silent comedy film '' Sherlock Jr.''


Tom Lehrer

In October 2020, satirical singer/songwriter
Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, who later taught mathematics and musical theater. He recorded pithy and humorous, often Music and politics, political songs that ...
announced the release of all of his lyrics and music to the public domain.


See also

*
List of American films of 1924 This is a list of American films released in 1924. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y–Z See also * 1924 in the United States Referenc ...
*
List of countries' copyright lengths Copyright is the right to copy and publish a particular work. The terms "copy" and "publish" are quite broad. They include copying in electronic form, making translated versions, creating a television program based on the work, and putting the w ...
*
Public Domain Day Public Domain Day (PDD) is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain. This legal transition of copyright works into the public domain usually happens every year on January 1 based on the individual copyrigh ...
*
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
*
Public Domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
* Over 300 public domain authors available in
Wikisource Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...
(any language), with descriptions from Wikidata *
1949 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1949. Events *January 11 – Bertolt Brecht's play ''Mother Courage and Her Children (Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder)'', 1939, is first performed in Germany, at t ...
,
1959 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1959. Events *January 31 – Sandu Tudor begins a 40-year sentence at Jilava Prison for "conspiracy against social order" and "intense activity against the working ...
,
1969 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1969. Events *February 8 – After 147 years, the last issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' in its original form appears in the United States. *March 23 – Germ ...
and
1979 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1979. Events *May – The Merchant Ivory Productions film '' The Europeans'' is released. Its screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala draws on the 1878 Henry James n ...


References


External links

*
Popular Books of 1924
at
Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
. {{Years in Public Domain Public domain by year
Public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...