Overview of works entering public domain
When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain . The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2028. Since laws vary globally , the copyright status of some works is not uniform.
Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years
This section
needs expansion . You can help by
adding to it .
(January 2024 )
With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1988), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. In addition, several other countries in the world have a limit of 70 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator.
Names
Country
Birth
Death
Occupation
Notable work
André Chevrillon
France
3 May 1864
9 July 1957
Writer
Publications
Miguel Covarrubias
Mexico
22 November 1904
4 February 1957
Painter, illustrator
Alfred Döblin
Germany
10 August 1878
26 June 1957
Writer
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Jérôme Doucet [fr ]
France
5 March 1865
1 February 1957
Writer
Works
Virgilio Giotti
Italy
15 January 1885
21 September 1957
Poet
Works
Heinrich Hoffman
Germany
12 September 1885
16 December 1957
Photographer
Léon Homo
France
16 December 1872
16 August 1957
Historian
Works
Nikos Kazantzakis
Greece
2 March 1883
26 October 1957
Writer
The Saviors of God , Captain Michalis , The Last Temptation of Christ , Zorba the Greek
František Kupka
Czech Republic
23 September 1871
24 June 1957
Painter
The Cathedral (Katedrála)
Josef Lada
Czech Republic
17 December 1887
14 December 1957
Painter, illustrator and writer
Kater Mikesch , illustrations for The Good Soldier Švejk
Curzio Malaparte
Italy
9 June 1898
19 July 1957
Writer
Main writings
Mait Metsanurk
Estonia
19 November 1879
21 August 1957
Writer
Ümera jõel
Diego Rivera
Mexico
8 December 1886
24 November 1957
Painter
Man at the Crossroads
José Lins do Rego
Brazil
3 July 1901
12 September 1957
Writer
Novels
Umberto Saba
Italy
9 March 1883
26 August 1957
Novelist
Works
Gaetano Salvemini
Italy
8 September 1873
6 September 1957
Politician
Works
Dorothy Sayers
United Kingdom
13 June 1893
17 December 1957
Writer, Translator, Poet, Editor
List of works by Dorothy L. Sayers
Jean Sibelius
Finland
8 December 1865
20 September 1957
Composer
List of compositions by Jean Sibelius
Laura Ingalls Wilder
United States
7 February 1867
10 February 1957
Writer
Little House on the Prairie
John von Neumann
Hungary United States
28 December 1903
8 February 1957
Mathematician, physicist, computer scientist
List of scientific publications by John von Neumann
Countries with life + 60 years
In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
Names
Country
Birth
Death
Occupation
Notable work
J. R. Ackerley
United Kingdom
4 November 1896
4 June 1967
Writer, editor
My Dog Tulip , We Think the World of You
Ciro Alegría
Peru
9 November 1909
17 February 1967
Journalist, novelist
El mundo es ancho y ajeno
Gordon Allport
United States
11 November 1897
9 October 1967
psychologist
Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality
Norman Angell
United Kingdom
26 December 1872
7 October 1967
journalist, author, politician
The Great Illusion
Tudor Arghezi
Romania
21 May 1880
14 July 1967
poet, novelist, essayist
Cuvinte Potrivite , Zdreanță
Marcel Aymé
France
29 March 1902
14 October 1967
Novelist, children's writer, playwright
The passer-through-walls
Margaret Ayer Barnes
United States
8 April 1886
25 October 1967
playwright, novelist, short-story writer
Years of Grace
Vladimir Bartol
Slovenia
24 February 1903
12 September 1967
Writer
Alamut
Frank Bruno
New Zealand
1910
12 July 1967
Writer, cartoonist, boxer
Black Noon at Ngutu , The Hellbuster
John Coltrane
United States
23 September 1926
17 July 1967
Saxophonist, composer
Giant Steps
Isaac Deutscher
United Kingdom
3 April 1907
19 August 1967
Biographer
Stalin: a Political Biography
Julien Duvivier
France
8 October 1896
29 October 1967
film director, screenwriter
Sous le ciel de Paris
Ilya Ehrenburg
Russia
27 January 1891
31 August 1967
writer, journalist, translator
Black Book , The Thaw
Sidney Bradshaw Fay
United States
13 April 1876
29 August 1967
Historian
The Origins of the World War
Varian Fry
United States
15 October 1907
13 September 1967
Journalist
The Peace that Failed , Surrender on Demand
Hein Gorny [de ]
Germany
21 April 1904
14 June 1967
Photographer
Collection at Deutsche Fotothek
Che Guevara
Argentina
14 June 1928
9 October 1967
Communist revolutionary, author
Guerrilla Warfare
Robert van Gulik
Netherlands
9 August 1910
24 September 1967
writer, diplomat, translator
The Chinese Maze Murders
Woody Guthrie
United States
14 July 1912
3 October 1967
singer-songwriter
This Land Is Your Land
Edward Hopper
United States
22 July 1882
15 May 1967
Painter
Nighthawks
Langston Hughes
United States
1 February 1902
22 May 1967
Writer
The Weary Blues
Lajos Kassák
Hungary
21 March 1887
22 July 1967
Poet, writer, painter
Margaret Kennedy
United Kingdom
23 April 1896
31 July 1967
Novelist, playwright
The Constant Nymph , Troy Chimneys
Joseph Kesselring
United States
21 July 1902
5 November 1967
playwright
Arsenic and Old Lace
Zoltán Kodály
Hungary
16 December 1882
6 March 1967
Composer, philosopher, ethnomusicologist
Psalmus Hungaricus
Wolfgang Köhler
Germany
21 January 1887
11 June 1967
Psychologist
The Mentality of Apes , Gestalt Psychology
Josefina Lerena Acevedo de Blixen [es ]
Uruguay
13 February 1889
12 November 1967
Writer, journalist
Reyles
Douglas MacLean
United States
10 January 1890
9 July 1967
actor, writer
Mama Loves Papa
René Magritte
Belgium
21 November 1898
15 August 1967
Painter
The Difficult Crossing , The Treachery of Images
John Masefield
United Kingdom
1 June 1878
12 May 1967
Poet, novelist
The Everlasting Mercy , Sea-Fever
André Maurois
France
26 July 1885
9 October 1967
author
The Silence of Colonel Bramble
Carson McCullers
United States
19 February 1917
29 September 1967
Novelist, playwright, poet
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter , The Member of the Wedding
Edgar Neville
Spain
28 December 1899
23 April 1967
playwright, film director
Christopher Okigbo
Nigeria
16 August 1932
September 1967
Writer
J. Robert Oppenheimer
United States
22 April 1904
18 February 1967
Physicist, professor
Joe Orton
United Kingdom
1 January 1933
9 August 1967
Playwright
The Ruffian on the Stair , Entertaining Mr Sloane
Dorothy Parker
United States
22 August 1893
7 June 1967
Writer
Enough Rope
Violeta Parra
Chile
4 October 1917
5 February 1967
Composer, songwriter
Gracias a la Vida
Arthur Ransome
United Kingdom
18 January 1884
3 June 1967
Writer, journalist
Swallows and Amazons series
Otis Redding
United States
9 November 1941
10 December 1967
Singer, songwriter
Respect
Elmer Rice
United States
28 September 1892
8 May 1967
playwright
The Adding Machine , Street Scene
Gerhard Ritter
Germany
6 April 1888
1 July 1967
Historian
Luther: Gestalt und Symbol
José Martínez Ruiz
Spain
8 June 1873
2 March 1967
Novelist, essayist, literary critic
La ruta de Don Quijote , La voluntad , Antonio Azorín
Carl Sandburg
United States
6 January 1878
22 July 1967
Poet, writer, journalist
Abraham Lincoln: The War Years , Chicago Poems
Siegfried Sassoon
United Kingdom
8 September 1886
1 September 1967
poet, soldier, writer
Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
Philippa Schuyler
United States
2 August 1931
9 May 1967
Journalist, pianist
Adventures in Black and White
Walter Terence Stace
United Kingdom
17 November 1886
2 August 1967
Philosopher, academic,
Mysticism and Philosophy
Billy Strayhorn
United States
29 November 1915
31 May 1967
Composer, lyricist
Take the "A" Train , Lush Life
Jean Toomer
United States
26 December 1894
30 March 1967
Poet, novelist
Cane
Pavlo Tychyna
Ukraine
23 January 1891
16 September 1967
poet, statesman,
Paul Whiteman
United States
28 March 1890
29 December 1967
Bandleader, composer
Flamin' Mamie
Ossip Zadkine
France
4 July 1890
25 November 1967
Artist
The Destroyed City
Wolfgang Zeller
Germany
12 September 1893
11 January 1967
Composer
João Guimarães Rosa
Brazil
27 June 1908
19 November 1967
Writer
Sagarana
Countries with life + 50 years
This section
needs expansion . You can help by
adding to it .
(January 2024 )
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus , Bolivia , New Zealand , Egypt and Uruguay , a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
Countries with life + 80 years
Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1988. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death.
Names
Country
Birth
Death
Occupation
Notable work
James Agate
United Kingdom
9 September 1877
6 June 1947
Writer, critic
Ego
Tilly Aston
Australia
11 December 1873
1 November 1947
Educator, writer
Joseph Barcroft
United Kingdom
26 July 1872
21 March 1947
Physiologist
The Respiratory Function of the Blood
W. Augustus Barratt
United States
3 June 1873
12 April 1947
Composer
Sir Patrick Spens
Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes
United Kingdom
5 August 1868
14 November 1947
Novelist
The Lodger
J. D. Beresford
United Kingdom
17 March 1873
1 February 1947
Science fiction and horror author
The Hampdenshire Wonder
Augustin Bernard [fr ]
France
26 August 1865
29 December 1947
Geographer
Les Confins algéro-marocains
Tristan Bernard
France
7 September 1866
7 December 1947
Playwright
Mémoires d'un jeune homme rangé
Jean-Richard Bloch
France
25 May 1884
15 March 1947
Writer
Luigi Bonelli [it ]
Italy
20 September 1865
26 January 1947
Orientalist
Lessico italiano-turco
Pierre Bonnard
France
3 October 1867
23 January 1947
Painter, printmaker
Wolfgang Borchert
Germany
20 May 1921
20 November 1947
Playwright
Draußen vor der Tür
Angela Brazil
United Kingdom
30 November 1868
13 March 1947
Children's books author
Óscar Castro Zúñiga
Chile
29 March 1910
1 October 1947
Writer
Llampo de Sangre , Camino en el alba , Comarca del jazmín
Willa Cather
United States
7 December 1873
24 April 1947
Writer
My Ántonia
Dmitry Censor [ru ]
Russia
22 December 1877
26 December 1947
Poet
George Chatterton-Hill
Ireland
1883
12 January 1947
Philosopher
Heredity and Selection in Sociology
Édouard Chatton
France
11 October 1883
23 April 1947
Biologist
Winston Churchill
United States
10 November 1871
12 March 1947
Novelist
The Celebrity
Ananda Coomaraswamy
United States
22 August 1877
9 September 1947
historian, philosopher
The Dance of Shiva
Aleister Crowley
United Kingdom
12 October 1875
1 December 1947
Poet
Bibliography
Franz Cumont
Belgium
3 January 1868
20 August 1947
archeologist
Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra
Petras Cvirka
Lithuania
12 March 1909
2 May 1947
Author
Frank Kruk
Josef Čapek
Czech
23 March 1887
April 1945[ 1]
Painter, writer
All About Doggie and Pussycat
Anton Denikin
Russia
16 December 1872
8 August 1947
Soldier, writer
Russian Turmoil
Walter Donaldson
United States
15 February 1893
15 July 1947
Songwriter
Makin' Whoopee , Yes Sir, That's My Baby
Hans Fallada
Germany
21 July 1893
5 February 1947
Writer
Der junge Goedeschal , Little Man, What Now?
Irving Fisher
United States
27 February 1867
29 April 1947
Economist
The Purchasing Power of Money
Desmond FitzGerald
Ireland
13 February 1888
9 April 1947
Architect
Henry Ford
United States
30 July 1863
7 April 1947
Business magnate
The International Jew
John Ulrich Giesy
United States
6 August 1877
8 September 1947
Writer, physician
Palos of the Dog Star Pack
Victor Goldschmidt
Norway
27 January 1888
20 March 1947
Mineralogist
Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente
Reynaldo Hahn
France
9 August 1874
28 January 1947
Composer
Ciboulette
G. H. Hardy
United Kingdom
7 February 1877
1 December 1947
Mathematician
A Mathematician's Apology
Frank Heller
Sweden
20 July 1886
14 October 1947
Writer
The London Adventures of Mr. Collin
Frederick Gowland Hopkins
United Kingdom
20 June 1861
16 May 1947
Biochemist
Feeding experiments illustrating the importance of accessory factors in normal dietaries
Blanche Hoschedé Monet
France
10 November 1865
8 December 1947
Painter
Victor Horta
Belgium
1 June 1861
9 August 1947
Architect
Albert Howard
United Kingdom
8 December 1873
20 October 1947
Botanist
An Agricultural Testament
Ricarda Huch
Germany
18 July 1864
17 November 1947
Author
The Deruga Case
Stanislav Hudeček [cs ]
Czech Republic
26 March 1872
15 April 1947
Painter and illustrator
E.M. Hull
United Kingdom
16 August 1880
11 February 1947
Novelist
The Sheik
Pierre Janet
France
30 May 1859
24 February 1947
Psychologist
La médecine psychologique
Afevork Ghevre Jesus
Ethiopia
10 July 1868
25 September 1947
Writer
Ləbb Wälläd Tarik
Elizabeth Jordan
United States
9 May 1865
24 February 1947
Journalist, suffragist, author
Pyotr Krasnov
Russia
22 September 1869
17 January 1947
Soldier, writer
From Double Eagle To the Red Flag
Karel Langer [cs ]
Czech Republic
16 January 1878
2 May 1947
Painter
Richard Le Gallienne
United Kingdom
20 January 1866
15 September 1947
author, poet
C. Louis Leipoldt
South Africa
28 December 1880
12 April 1947
Poet
Philipp Lenard
Germany
7 June 1862
20 May 1947
Physicist
Quantitative on cathode rays
Friedrich von Lerch [de ]
Austria
30 May 1878
19 December 1947
Physicist
Separation of radium C from radium E
Hugh Lofting
United Kingdom
14 January 1886
26 September 1947
Writer
Doctor Dolittle series
Ernst Lubitsch
Germany
28 January 1892
30 November 1947
Director
Manuel Machado
Spain
29 August 1874
19 January 1947
Poet and playwright
La Lola se va a los puertos
Arthur Machen
United Kingdom
3 March 1863
15 December 1947
Fantasy and horror author
The Great God Pan , The Three Impostors , The Hill of Dreams , The White People
Karl Mannheim
United Kingdom
27 March 1893
9 January 1947
Sociologist
Ideology and Utopia
Henri Manuel
France
24 April 1874
11 September 1947
Photographer
William Moulton Marston
United States
9 May 1893
2 May 1947
Psychologist, inventor, comic book writer
Wonder Woman , DISC assessment
Anatole de Monzie
France
22 November 1876
11 January 1947
Encyclopaedist
Grandeur et servitude judiciaires
Yone Noguchi
Japan
8 December 1875
13 July 1947
Writer
The American Diary of a Japanese Girl
Emma Orczy
United Kingdom
23 September 1865
12 November 1947
Novelist, Playwright
The Scarlet Pimpernel
P. D. Ouspensky
Russia
5 March 1878
2 October 1947
Mathematician, esotericist
Friedrich Paschen
Germany
22 January 1865
25 February 1947
Physicist
Ueber die zum Funkenübergang in Luft, Wasserstoff und Kohlensäure bei verschiedenen Drucken erforderliche Potentialdifferenz
John Henry Patterson
United Kingdom
10 November 1867
18 June 1947
Soldier, hunter, author
The Man-Eaters of Tsavo
Reginald Payne
United Kingdom
7 June 1909
20 December 1947
Illustrator
The Railway Series
Júlio Afrânio Peixoto
Brazil
17 December 1876
12 January 1947
Writer
Max Planck
Germany
23 April 1858
4 October 1947
Scientist
R. I. Pocock
United Kingdom
4 March 1863
9 August 1947
Zoologist
The Fauna of British India
Carl Adolph Preyer
United States
28 July 1863
16 November 1947
Composer
Festal Polonaise, Op.14
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
Switzerland
24 September 1878
23 May 1947
Author
Beauty on Earth
Forrest Reid
United Kingdom
24 June 1875
4 January 1947
Novelist
Young Tom
Nicholas Roerich
Russia India
9 October 1874
13 December 1947
Painter, writer
Borys Romanowski [ka ]
Georgia
1879
1947
Polish painter active in Georgia
Margaret Marshall Saunders
Canada
13 May 1861
15 February 1947
Writer
Johannes Schubert [ar ; de ] .
Austria
11 June 1859
29 September 1947
Physicist
Emil Schovánek
Czech Republic
10 September 1885
11 July 1947
Painter
Alexander Scott
United Kingdom
28 December 1853
10 March 1947
Chemist
An Introduction to Chemical Theory
Kathleen Scott
United Kingdom
27 March 1878
25 July 1947
Sculptor
Victor Serge
Belgium
30 December 1890
17 November 1947
Marxist revolutionary, writer
From Lenin to Stalin , Destiny of a Revolution
M. P. Shiel
Montserrat
21 July 1865
17 February 1947
Horror and science fiction author
The Purple Cloud , The Yellow Danger
Andrei Shkuro
Russia
19 January 1887
17 January 1947
Soldier, memoirist
Alfred Walter Stewart
United Kingdom
September 1880
1 July 1947
Chemist, Writer
Nordenholt's Million
Alan Sullivan
Canada
29 November 1868
6 August 1947
Writer
The Great Divide
Flora Thompson
United Kingdom
5 December 1876
21 May 1947
Novelist, poet
Lark Rise to Candleford
Mstislav Tsyavlovsky [ru ]
Russia Soviet Union
26 June 1883
11 November 1947
Literary scholar
Jim Tully
United States
3 June 1886
22 June 1947
Writer
Beggars of Life
Marcel Varnel
France
16 October 1892
13 July 1947
Film Director
E. C. Vivian
United Kingdom
19 October 1882
21 May 1947
Writer, editor
Fields of Sleep
Sidney Webb
United Kingdom
13 July 1859
13 October 1947
Alfred North Whitehead
United Kingdom
15 February 1861
30 December 1947
Mathematician
Process and Reality
Anna Wickham
United Kingdom
1883
30 April 1947
Poet
Songs of John Oland
Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman
Belgium
19 October 1866
24 July 1947
Botanist
Almroth Wright
United Kingdom
10 August 1861
30 April 1947
Bacteriologist
The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage
Riichi Yokomitsu
Japan
17 March 1898
30 December 1947
Writer
Eduard von Zambaur [de ]
Austria
11 May 1866
10 October 1947
Orientalist
Die Münzprägungen des Islams
United States
Creative Commons-licensed fan art of Conan the Barbarian , a character who has long been subject of copyright disputes and ambiguity, and will definitively enter the public domain in 2028.
Under the Copyright Term Extension Act , books published in 1932 , films released in 1932 , and other works published in 1932, will enter the public domain in 2028.[ 2] Sound recordings that were published in 1927 and unpublished works whose authors died in 1957 will also enter the public domain.
Among the films that will enter the public domain in 2028 are the original Scarface , The Mummy with Boris Karloff , Tarzan the Ape Man with Johnny Weissmuller , Best Picture Academy Award -winner Grand Hotel , Josef von Sternberg 's Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich , Ernst Lubitsch 's Trouble in Paradise , The Music Box starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy , Katharine Hepburn 's film debut A Bill of Divorcement , Shirley Temple 's film debut The Red-Haired Alibi , the earliest Looney Tunes short films that were still under copyright when the Copyright Renewal Act of 1992 was implemented, Horse Feathers with the Marx Brothers , Tod Browning 's Freaks , Carl Theodor Dreyer 's Vampyr , Alfred Hitchcock 's Number Seventeen , the John Ford films Air Mail and Flesh (the latter of which was co-written by William Faulkner ), Jean Renoir 's Boudu Saved from Drowning , Yasujirō Ozu 's I Was Born, But... , the first Mexican sound film Santa , the first Egyptian sound film Sons of Aristocrats , the first Marathi language sound film and oldest surviving Indian film Ayodhyecha Raja , Walt Disney 's Flowers and Trees (the first cartoon produced in Technicolor ), and Mickey's Revue with the first appearance of Dippy Dawg, the character who would later become Goofy .
Examples of important literary works entering the public domain include Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World , William Faulkner 's Light in August , Samuel Becket 's Dream of Fair to Middling Women , Guy Endore 's The Werewolf of Paris , Graham Greene 's Stamboul Train , Ernest Hemingway 's Death in the Afternoon , Zelda Fitzgerald 's Save Me the Waltz , John Steinbeck 's The Pastures of Heaven , Agatha Christie 's Hercule Poirot detective novel Peril at End House , John Dos Passos 's Nineteen Nineteen , Robert E. Howard 's first Conan the Barbarian short story The Phoenix on the Sword , Laura Ingalls Wilder 's Little House in the Big Woods , Herge 's Tintin in America in its original French unedited black-and-white version, the first appearances of villain Bluto in E. C. Segar 's Thimble Theatre , and W. E. Johns ’ first Biggles -collection The Camels Are Coming .
Important artworks entering the public domain include Pablo Picasso 's Nude in a Black Armchair and Nude, Green Leaves and Bust , Oskar Schlemmer 's painting Bauhaus Stairway , Otto Dix 's triptych The War , Henri Matisse 's mural The Dance II , David Alfaro Siqueiros ' fresco América Tropical , Diego Rivera 's Detroit Industry Murals , Alberto Giacometti 's sculpture The Palace at 4 a.m. , Man Ray 's photograph Larmes and some of the earliest professional photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson including Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare and Hyères, France .
Among the better-known songs entering the public domain are "Try a Little Tenderness ", "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) " and "Love Is the Sweetest Thing ".
See also
References
External links