January 1st is Public Domain Day

[mikemc2]

"What is entering the public domain in the United States? Sadly, we will have nothing to celebrate this January 1st. Not a single published work is entering the public domain this year. Or next year. Or the year after. Or the year after that. In fact, in the United States, no publication will enter the public domain until 2019. "

http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday


Perhaps we should have a µTorrent Day in the U.S.?

[caleb72]

Damn - was hoping to get "Lord of the Flies".
One day I'll want to read that marvellous book again, and it looks like I'll be paying.

Regards
Caleb

[Fbone]

Yes- in 2019 all books published in 1923 will enter public domain in US.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Yes- in 2019 all books published in 1923 will enter public domain in US.

...as long as the copyrights aren't extended again before then.

[JeremyR]

On the plus side, I guess it means no one can write "The Great Gatsby and Zombies" for another 8 years.

But yeah, it pretty much sucks. Basically to benefit the 1% or whatever of old material is still commercially viable, you are dooming the other 99% to obscurity.

It's especially a big deal now with e-readers. Before PD material was expensive to reproduce, now anyone with an e-reader can read it.

[HarryT]

The good news, however, is that for the other 95% of the world's population, another year's worth of books have now entered the public domain.

[Fbone]

I believe all F. Scott Fitzgerald's works have entered British public domain this year.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I believe all F. Scott Fitzgerald's works have entered British public domain this year.

Yes, he died in 1940, so his works are now in the public domain in "life+70" countries, which includes the UK.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, he died in 1940, so his works are now in the public domain in "life+70" countries, which includes the UK.

So is the US the only country where Tender Is the Night is not in public domain?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fbone

So is the US the only country where Tender Is the Night is not in public domain?

Not the only one. Mexico, for example, has a copyright term of life+100 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years.

But it's certainly now in the public domain in the vast majority of countries.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The good news, however, is that for the other 95% of the world's population, another year's worth of books have now entered the public domain.

Another year's worth of lifetime productions, i.e., all the works from authors who died in 1940 (or 1960, or 1910...)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Another year's worth of lifetime productions, i.e., all the works from authors who died in 1940 (or 1960, or 1910...)

True, and a very important distinction . Thanks for the clarification!

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

On the plus side, I guess it means no one can write "The Great Gatsby and Zombies" for another 8 years.

Don't be ridiculous. Obviously, the Great Gatsby will be teamed up with gargoyles.

I expect, in about four years, to see the beginnings of increasingly frantic attempts to pass copyright-lengthening legislation in the US--which they won't manage to do, this time, because of the growing awareness of the problem of orphan works, and works in the PD in other countries that are easily downloadable in the US.

The 2020's should be an amazing decade, as various commercial icons enter the public domain: Mickey Mouse (who may already be PD, but you need Disney-fighting lawyers to prove it), Batman, Superman, and the early color movies.

[SensualPoet]

Canada is Death+50 ... Death in 1960 = PD in 2011

Famous Deaths 1960 - Mainly writers in English
Jan 4 - Albert Camus
Jan 12 - Nevil Shute
Jan 28 - Zora Neale Hurston
May 10 - Yuri Karlovich Olesha
May 30 - Boris Pasternak
Jun 17 - Pierre Reverdy
Jul 16 - John Phillips Marquand
Aug 29 - Vicki Baum
Dec 29 - Eden Phillpotts

... and looking ahead to next year ...

Famous Deaths 1961 - Mainly writers in English
Jan 10 - Dashiell Hammett
Jun 26 - Kenneth Fearing
Jul 1 - Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Jul 2 - Ernest Hemingway
Jul 12 - Mazo de la Roche
Aug 14 - Clarke Ashton Smith
Nov 2 - James Thurber

[Shushan]

Mexico, Samoa, Guatemala, Colombia, and ...the US... yikes! You'd think that would embarrass even the lawyers