Works published in 1923 now in the public domain ...

[quincy]

It has been 21 years since old works have entered the public domain. But, on January 1, 2019, the copyrights in works published in 1923 have finally expired in the US and are now in the public domain.

And, absent any action by Congress to the contrary, "new" old works should be entering the public domain every year from now on.

Some works published in 1923 that are now available copyright-right free to the public include Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet," Agatha Christie's "The Murder on the Links," Cecile B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments," Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" ... the list continues and is a long one.

Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain has compiled a partial list of the 1923 literary works, periodicals, serializations, dramatic works, movies, musical works, artistic works, and choreography that are now copyright-free:
https://law.duke.edu/sites/default/files/images/centers/cspd/pdd2019/1923_works_renewed_update2.xlsx

All works published AFTER 1923 should still be considered copyright-protected until the copyright status is investigated. Copyright expiration dates on works published after 1923 vary depending on the facts of publication and whether copyrights were or were not renewed.

As an additional note: Although some original works might be in the public domain and free of copyright protection, there can be copyrights in newly-created versions of public domain works (e.g., colorized versions of old black and white films) and there can also be trademark protections and personality rights to consider.

 

[FlyingRon]

Hadn't had to worry about it since Sonny hit that tree.

 

[adjusterjack]

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost




(Kind of appropriate today, as cold as it got.)

 

[quincy]

That Frost poem has always been my favorite - although when I had to memorize a poem for a middle school class assignment I wisely chose a shorter one ("The Eel" by Ogden Nash - "I don't mind eels Except as meals And the way they feels").

The 1923 public domain date was sort of easy for me to remember because, when everything else was always changing, that nicely never did. Now I will actually have to remember what year it is.

 

[cbg]

I love Robert Frost

 

[HighwayMan]

It has been 21 years since old works have entered the public domain. But, on January 1, 2019, the copyrights in works published in 1923 have finally expired in the US and are now in the public domain.

Sir, did you have a legal question?

 

[quincy]

Sir, did you have a legal question?

Not any more. I had been wondering when works published in 1923 would be in the public domain ... but quincy answered my question.

 

[NeilTheCop]

Not any more. I had been wondering when works published in 1923 would be in the public domain ... but quincy answered my question.

All except Peter Pan.
As far as I know it's the only book which has copyright protection in perpetuity. Well in the UK anyway.

 

[quincy]

All except Peter Pan.
As far as I know it's the only book which has copyright protection in perpetuity. Well in the UK anyway.

The copyright in the play Peter Pan expires in 2023 in the US.

Rights to royalties are held by the Great Ormond Hospital in the UK. These rights will not expire in the UK.

 

[NeilTheCop]

Rights to royalties are held by the Great Ormond Hospital in the UK. These rights will not expire in the UK.

That I know. I've seen the strange statue of Peter Pan that's in the gardens at the hospital on many occasions.

 

[quincy]

That I know. I've seen the strange statue of Peter Pan that's in the gardens at the hospital on many occasions.

If you visit the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens, you can get a phone call from Peter.

 

[adjusterjack]

("The Eel" by Ogden Nash - "I don't mind eels Except as meals And the way they feels").

I was always good at memorizing short poems.

Nash:

The one-l lama,
He's a priest.
The two-l llama,
He's a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama.*

(to which Nash appended the footnote
*The author's attention has been called to a type of conflagration known
as a three-alarmer. Pooh.)

Sandburg:

The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbor and city
On silent haunches
And then moves on.

Stevenson:

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle light.
In summer quite the other way
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.


And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Carroll:

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

 

[quincy]

Nash was my go-to poet whenever there was poem memorizing to do.

I remember one kid in middle school memorized "Paul Revere's Ride" and was upset when the teacher gave us both A's. Haha.

 

[FlyingRon]

Many years ago we were in a small group at an Army lab that was known as the computer gurus. It soon became that everybody wanted to be a guru so we had behind-armor effects gurus, etc... So I made a sign that proclaimed we were the lamas.

Mike Muuss, Lama, a priest
Bob Miles, Llama, a beast.
Ron Natalie, Lllama, a big fire.

Of course, that only led to the secretaries across the hall being labeled as the Dolly Lamas.

 

[quincy]

Many years ago we were in a small group at an Army lab that was known as the computer gurus. It soon became that everybody wanted to be a guru so we had behind-armor effects gurus, etc... So I made a sign that proclaimed we were the lamas.

Mike Muuss, Lama, a priest
Bob Miles, Llama, a beast.
Ron Natalie, Lllama, a big fire.

Of course, that only led to the secretaries across the hall being labeled as the Dolly Lamas.

Called computer gurus to your faces, at least.