While the first day of January is most commonly known as New Year’s Day, it also happens to be Public Domain Day. Each year on that date, certain books, movies, and sound recordings are added to the public domain. Before we take a look at some of the treasures that entered that realm on Public Domain Day 2022, let’s take a look at what public domain really means.
The notion of public domain can be traced back to ancient Roman law and initially had to do with physical property rights. Whatever belonged to you as an individual was yours; everything else was public domain (belonged to everyone). Over time, the concept grew to include non-tangible items — creations, thoughts, ideas, and words.
The advent of formal copyright law came through a British law in 1710 — the Statute of Anne. The same notion was formalized in the United States by the Constitution “to promote the progress of science.”
Specifically, Congress secured to authors “the exclusive right to their respective writings.” It was believed that these exclusive rights to authors would serve as an incentive to writers, artists, composers, and others in creative fields to create and contribute to human knowledge and culture.
The Constitution also specifies that the protection shall be “for limited times,” ensuring that covered works would eventually serve as source material for further creation. The scope and terms of our copyright laws have changed many times since it was first set forth in the Constitution. Once a particular creation is no longer covered by copyright law, it enters the public domain.
From a legal perspective, the public domain is the space where no intellectual property rights exist. Works in the public domain may be used without any restrictions. Anyone may do anything they want with the work, including activities that were formerly the “exclusive right” of the copyright holder, like copying, sharing, and adapting the work. The works are totally free and legal for anyone to use, without paying for the use or being slapped with a lawsuit. The caveat here is that once someone revises or builds upon an item in the public domain, their resulting creation is then covered by copyright law. It is a cycle.
There are different ways works enter into the public domain. First, works whose copyrights have expired are automatically in the public domain. Second, works can enter the public domain if the creator puts them there before the copyright expires. And third, some works enter the public domain because the creator never pursued a copyright in the first place.
The U.S. assigns copyright protection to original works from the date of their creation (with some exceptions), but this is finite. Works will enter the public domain 70 years after the author’s death, so the writings of those who died in 1951 will become available next year. In America, the Copyright Term Extension Act further provides that books published in 1926 entered the public domain this year (2022) – an extended 96-year protection.
Perhaps the most beloved and enduring character in this year’s lot is the “silly old bear,” Winnie the Pooh. The book, titled Winnie the Pooh, a collection of short stories by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shephard, was released in 1926. Milne wrote a total of four books based on Pooh. Books two thru four have not yet entered the public domain. This means that many of the characters from the series, most notably Tigger, have not lapsed and will not for a few more years. To further complicate things, the image of Pooh wearing a red shirt was not published until 1932. So, if you plan to base a project on the bear, you may want to be careful how he is dressed. Or, more to the point, how he is not dressed. Walt Disney’s version of Pooh is still very much under copyright protection.
Contemporary creators wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity to put their stamp on Pooh. Luke McGarry, a famous cartoonist/illustrator/artist, must have begun drawing a nude Pooh Bear as soon as he heard the news. On just the 2nd of January, he posted a four-panel cartoon with the bear saying, “Disney still own their version of me. … But as long as I don’t put a little red shirt on, I can do as I like.” His tweet received nearly 40,000 likes. In case you missed it, you can see it here.
Winnie the Pooh is not the only animated character to be given freedom this year. Another treasured personified woods dwelling animal named Bambi is no longer protected by copyright. Contrary to what you might think, the original introduction to Bambi was not through Disney’s film. Rather, readers first met the deer in Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Viennese author Felix Salten in 1923.
Another well-known character having a coming out of copyright party this year is Agatha Christie’s, Hercule Poirot. Christie’s short novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is now available for new adaptations. Many believe this was the book that made Christie’s career.
Other notable authors in the 2022 list include Faulkner, Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dorothy Parker.
A list of some of the most notable books, sound recordings, and films that entered public domain this year follows.
BOOKS
Dynamite: The Story of Class Violence in America by Louis Adamic (1931)
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)
It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935)
The Moral Obligation to be Intelligent by John Erskine (1915)
Show Boat by Edna Ferber (1926)
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes (1926)
Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas (1929)
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (1932)
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis (1920)
My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather (1926)
Ralph 124C 41+ by Hugo Gernsback (1911)
The Benson Murder Case by S.S. Van Dine (1926)
Soldiers’ Pay by William Faulkner (1926)
Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker (1926)
Notes on Democracy by H.L. Mencken (1926)
International Works Entering the U.S. Public Domain
Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, decorations by E. H. Shephard (1926)
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (1926)
Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten (1923)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)
Faust (1926 film) written by Hans Kyser and directed by F. W. Murnau
Turandot (1926 opera) with a libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni; based on the play of the same name by Carol Gozzi
The Castle, an unfinished novel by Franz Kafka (1926)
SOUND RECORDINGS
“That Thing Called Love” by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds
“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Roy Turk and Lou Handman
“Swanee” by Al Jolson
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” by Irving Berlin
“When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along)” by Harry M. Woods
“Ke Kali Nei Au” by Charles E. King (later renamed “Hawaiian Wedding Song”)
“Someone to Watch Over Me” by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
“As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld
FILMS
For Heaven’s Sake (starring Harold Lloyd)
Battling Butler (starring Buster Keaton)
The Son of the Sheik (starring Rudolph Valentino)
The Temptress (starring Greta Garbo)
Moana (docufiction filmed in Samoa)
Faust (German expressionist classic)
So This Is Paris (based on the play Le Réveillon)
Don Juan (first feature-length film to use the Vitaphone sound system)
It will be interesting to see some of these favorites performed by community players in local theatre or performed by high school bands. Perhaps young playwrights will prepare a script for an off-Broadway play adaptation of one of the books or films on the 2022 list. There are endless possibilities. Now we just sit back, wait and watch.
