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, Filed Under: Copyright, Public domain

Public Domain for 2020

From the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8: “The Congress shall have Power…to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” [emphasis mine]

January 1, 2020 marks the date that items published in the year 1924 enter the public domain in the United States. January 1st of any given year is the date that items typically fall into the public domain. This happens 70 years after the death of the author, 95 years from the date of publication, or 120 years from the date of creation – whichever comes first (see this Cornell chart for more details).

In celebration of the release of copyrighted works into the public domain, I wanted to share a not-at-all-comprehensive list of items that will be in the public domain as of January 1st. If you are a faculty member, take a look at the list and see if any of this content would be useful in the courses you teach. Public domain means access to content should be free or relatively cheap (great news for your students), and fair game for remixing and reusing (great news for you).

Film

  • The Age of Innocence: Dir. Wesley Ruggles
  • America: Dir. D.W. Griffith
  • Forbidden Paradise: Dir. Ernst Lubitsch
  • Girl Shy: Dir. Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
  • Greed: Dir. Erich Von Stroheim
  • He Who Gets Slapped: Dir. Victor Sjöström
  • Hot Water: Dir. Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
  • Isn’t Life Wonderful: Dir. D.W. Griffith
  • Navigator: Dir. Buster Keaton
  • Peter Pan: Dir. Herbert Brenon
  • The Sea Hawk: Dir. Frank Lloyd
  • Secrets: Dir. Frank Borzage
  • Sherlock Jr.: Dir. Buster Keaton
  • Stupid, But Brave: Dir. Roscoe Arbuckle
  • The Thief of Bagdad: Dir. Raoul Walsh

Music – includes only the musical composition and not specific recordings

  • “Alabamy Bound” by Ray Henderson, Buddy DeSylva, and Bud Green
  • “Does the Spearmint Lose its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?” by Billy Rose, Ernest Breuer, and Marty Bloom
  • “Everybody Loves My Baby” by Spencer Williams and Jack Palmer
  • “How Come You Do Me Like You Do?” by Gene Austin and Roy Bergere
  • “I’ll See You in My Dreams” by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn
  • “It Had to Be You” by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn
  • Lady, Be Good musical with music by George & Ira Gershwin
  • “King Porter Stomp” by Jelly Roll Morton
  • “Lazy” by Irving Berlin
  • “Nobody’s Sweetheart” by Billy Meyers, Elmer Schoebel, Gus Kahn, and Ernie Erdman
  • Příhody lišky Bystroušky opera by Leoš Janáček
  • “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin
  • “See See Rider” by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey
  • “Somebody Loves Me” by George Gershwin, Ballard MacDonald, and Buddy DeSylva
  • Symphony No. 7 in C major by Jean Sibelius
  • “Tea for Two” by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar

Literature

  • Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Tarzan and the Ant Men
  • Christie, Agatha:
    • The Man in the Brown Suit
    • Poirot Investigates
  • Connell, Richard: The Most Dangerous Game
  • Du Bois, W.E.B.: The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America
  • Ford, Ford Madox: Some Do Not…
  • Forster, E.M.: A Passage to India
  • Frankau, Gilbert: Gerald Cranston’s Lady
  • Goldman, Emma: My Further Disillusionment in Russia
  • Iqbal, Allama: Bang-i-Dara (The Call of the Marching Bell)
  • Javakhishvili, Mikheil: Kvachi Kvachantiradze
  • Kennedy, Margaret: The Constant Nymph
  • Lofting, Hugh: Doctor Dolittle’s Circus
  • MacDonald, Philip: The Rasp
  • Mann, Thomas: Der Zauberberg
  • Mansfield, Katherine: Something Childish and Other Stories
  • Masefield, John: Sard Harker
  • Melville, Herman: Billy Budd, Sailor
  • Milne, A.A.: When We Were Very Young
  • Neruda, Pablo: Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Canción Desesperada
  • O’Neill, Eugene: Desire Under the Elms
  • Plunkett, Edward (Lord Dunsany): The King of Elfland’s Daughter
  • Thompson, Ruth Plumly: Grampa in Oz
  • Wallace, Edgar:
    • The Dark Eyes of London
    • Double Dan
    • The Face in the Night
    • The Three Oak Mystery
    • Room 13
    • Educated Evans
  • Warner, Gertrude Chandler: The Boxcar Children
  • Wells, H.G.: The Dream
  • Wharton, Edith: Old New York (collection of four novellas)
  • Zamyatin, Yevgeny: We (English translation by Gregory Zilboorg)

Art

  • Bellows, George: Dempsey and Firpo
  • Dix, Otto: Portrait of the Art Dealer Johanna Ey
  • Hopper, Edward: New York Pavements
  • Jones, David: The Garden Enclosed
  • Kandinsky, Wassily: Contrasting Sounds
  • Klee, Paul:
    • Asiatic God
    • Carnival in the Mountains
    • Flower Garden
  • Ray, Man: Le Violon d’Ingres
  • Rivera, Diego: The Day of the Dead
  • Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt: Buffalo Bill – The Scout

Many thanks to lifehacker for providing many of the resources for this list. You can also find great resources about the public domain from the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke.
Disclaimer: I tried to find a couple sources for each item listed, but please use this list with care and do your own research on publication dates.

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