Intellectual property law is meant to ensure that creatives can protect their ideas and support themselves on their earnings.
However, when these terms of protection expire, public domain designation can inspire new waves of creativity.
Suddenly, a new generation can remix music, retell old stories, and accessfree copies of great works.
A 1927 illustration by Frederic Dorr Steele from “The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place” in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.” (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Copyright laws vary around the world.
Therefore, 2023 welcomes the works of 1927 to the public domain.
Unpublished works become public domain this year if the author died in 1952.
“Wings,” the silent film which won the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1929. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Apublic domain designationmeans it is free to use and reference.
Countless great works have long been in the public domain, such as Shakespeare’s original plays.
In 2023, Virginia Wolf’sTo the Lighthousewill become public domain.
Virginia Wolf photographed around 1927. Wolf’s work “To the Lighthouse” becomes public domain in 2023. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
These includeThe Adventure of Shoscombe Old PlaceandThe Adventure of the Veiled Lodger.
Franz Kafka’sAmerika, an off-kilter tale of an immigrant teen, also becomes public domain.
Among them were Langston Hughes, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Arna Bontemps, and James Weldon Johnson.
Writer Langston Hughs, photographed in 1943 by Gordon Parks. Hughs is among the poets included in “Caroling Dusk,” a poetry anthology which becomes public domain in 2023. (Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Read, watch, learn, and enjoy.
In 2023, books and films published in 1927 will become public domain.
Wings, the silent film which won the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1929.
A first edition copy of Franz Kafka’s “Amerkia.” (Photo: © Foto H.-P.Haack viaWikimedia Commons,CC BY 3.0)
Virginia Wolf photographed around 1927.
Wolf’s work To the Lighthouse becomes public domain in 2023.
(Photo:Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Films from 1927 includeWingsandMetropolis.
Writer Langston Hughs, photographed in 1943 by Gordon Parks.
Hughs is among the poets included in Caroling Dusk, a poetry anthology which becomes public domain in 2023.
A first edition copy of Franz Kafka’s Amerkia.
