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, Filed Under: Copyright, Public domain

Public Domain for 2022

Happy New Year! January 1, 2022 marks the date that items published in the year 1926 enter the public domain in the United States. January 1st of any given year is the date that items typically enter 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 – typically whichever comes first, but there are lots of exceptions (see this Cornell chart for more details). January 1st, 2022 also marks the date when pre-1923 sound recordings enter the public domain.

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). I’ve provided links to UT owned copies where possible. Please keep in mind that those copies may be later editions, translations, or otherwise modified in ways that still may be protected by copyright

Art

  • Beckmann, Max: Portrait of Quappi in Blue
  • Bradshaw, H. Chalton, & Gilbert Ledward: Guards Memorial (London)
  • Calder, Alexander: Very Flat Cat
  • Dalí, Salvador: The Basket of Bread
  • Diamon, Charles T., & John Paulding: Astoria Victory Monument
  • Dickinson, Edwin: The Cello Player
  • Gordine, Dora: Chinese Head (Chia-Chu Chang: The Chinese Philosopher)
  • Höch, Hannah: Love
  • Kahlo, Frida: Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress
  • Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig: Brücke bei Wiesen
  • Laurencin, Marie: Les Désguisés
  • de Lempicka, Tamara: Kizette in Pink
  • Laurencin, Marie: Head of a Woman
  • Magritte, René: La traversée difficile (The Difficult Crossing) (first version)
  • Malkine, Georges: Nuit d’Amour
  • Matisse, Henri: Yellow Odalisque (also known as Nude on a Yellow Sofa)
  • Monet, Claude: several paintings from his Water Lilies series
  • Patigian, Haig: Statue of Abraham Lincoln (San Francisco)
  • Proctor, Dod: Morning

Film 

  • 3 Bad Men: Dir. John Ford
  • The Adventures of Prince Achmed: Dir. Lotte Reiniger
  • Aloma of the South Seas: Dir. Maurice Tourneur
  • Ang Tatlong Hambog: Dir. Jose Nepomuceno
  • Beau Geste: Dir. Herbert Brenon
  • The Better ‘Ole: Dir. Charles Reisner
  • The Black Pirate: Dir. Albert Parker
  • La Boheme: Dir. King Vidor
  • Bulbul-e-Paristan: Dir. Fatma Begum
  • Der goldene Schmetterling (The Golden Butterfly): Dir. Michael Curtiz
  • Чёртово колесо (The Devil’s Wheel): Dir. Grigori Kozintsev & Leonid Trauberg
  • Don Juan: Dir. Alan Crosland
  • Faust: Dir. F.W. Murnau
  • La Folie des Vaillants: Dir. Germaine Dulac
  • For Heaven’s Sake: Dir. Sam Taylor
  • The General: Dir. Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
  • Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei (The Last Days of Pompeii): Dir. Carmine Gallone & Amleto Palermi
  • The Great Gatsby: Dir. Herbert Brenon
  • Loetoeng Kasaroeng: Dir. L. Heuveldorp
  • The Magician: Dir. Rex Ingram
  • The Marriage Clause: Dir. Lois Weber
  • Мисс Менд (Miss Mend: The Adventures of the Three Reporters): Dir. Boris Barnet & Fyodor Otsep
  • Мать (Mother): Dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin
  • 狂った一頁 (A Page of Madness): Dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa
  • The Pleasure Garden: Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Old Ironsides: Dir. James Cruze
  • The Sea Beast: Dir. Millard Webb
  • The Scarlet Letter: Dir. Victor Seastrom
  • The Son of the Sheik: Dir. George Fitzmaurice
  • Sparrow: Dir. William Beaudine & Tom McNamara
  • The Strong Man: Dir. Frank Capra
  • The Volga Boatman: Dir. Cecil B. DeMille
  • What Price Glory?: Dir. Raoul Walsh

Literature 

Music – only the musical composition and not specific recordings 

  • “Alabama Stomp” by Henry Creamer and James P. Johnson
  • “Are you Lonesome Tonight?” by Roy Turk and Lou Handman
  • “Baby Face” by Harry Akst with lyrics by Benny Davis
  • “Because I Love You” by Irving Berlin
  • “Big Butter and Egg Man” by Percy Venable
  • “The Birth of the Blues” by Ray Henderson with lyrics by Buddy DeSylva and Lew Brown
  • “Blue Room” by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart
  • “Breezin’ Along with the Breeze” by Haven Gillespie, Seymour Simons, & Richard Whiting
  • “Cherie, I Love You” by Lillian Rosedale Goodman
  • Criss Cross (musical) by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Otto Harbach & Anne Caldwell
  • “Deed I Do” by Fred Rose with lyrics by Walter Hirsch
  • “Doctor Jazz” by Joe “King” Oliver
  • “The Gang That Sang Heart of my Heart” by Ben Ryan
  • “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” by Irving Berlin
  • “Georgia Grind” by Spencer Williams with lyrics by Bud Allen
  • “Heebie Jeebies” by Boyd Atkins
  • “If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)” by James P. Johnson with lyrics by Henry Creamer
  • “In a Little Spanish Town (‘Twas on a Night Like This)” by Mabel Wayne with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young
  • “It All Depends on You” by Ray Henderson with lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva & Lew Brown
  • “Mountain Greenery” by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart
  • “Muskrat Ramble” by Kid Ory
  • “Someone to Watch Over Me” by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin
  • “Sugar” by Maceo Pinkard, Edna Alexander, & Sidney D. Mitchell
  • “Tonight You Belong to Me” by Billy Rose and Lee David
  • “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini and completed by Franco Alfano
  • “What Can I Say After I Say I’m Sorry?” by Walter Donaldson & Abe Lyman
  • “When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along)” by Harry Woods

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.

Check out the Center for the Study of the Public Domain and the Library of Congress for even more works entering the public domain this month.

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