Hundreds of Artworks Are Entering the Public Domain This Year

As of this month, hundreds of books, movies, music, plays, and artworks from 1923 have entered the public domain — meaning that anyone can access or use them without having to get permission or pay a copyright holder.

In 1998, Congress passed the Copyright Term Extension Act, which stated that anything from 1923 or later would be protected for a full 95 years — up from the previous span of 75 years. That means 2019 marks the first time in more than two decades that published works have entered the public domain on this scale.

Digital libraries and archives can now post the full text of any literature published in 1923. Films from 1923 can be preserved and even remade, plays can be newly staged and reinterpreted, and all the music written that year can be performed and recorded, free of charge.

Glenn Fleishman has written about the public domain for Smithsonian Magazine. He says existing copyright law can have a chilling effect on artists or distributors who don't want to be hit with expensive lawsuits — but now, almost a century later, we have an opportunity to archive our cultural history.

"This is the first time we've seen a mass entry of this kind in the age in which everything can be indexed and be made available worldwide," Fleishman said. "And you know, not to sound like some kind of fussy, 'Oh, the worldwide web, it's this new exciting thing' — but it really is when it comes to the public domain."