
Public Domain Day: Works Enter Public Domain for the First Time in 21 Years - ingve
http://www.openculture.com/2019/01/public-domain-day-is-coming.html
======
tofof
Or perhaps more significantly: for only the second time in 41 years.

For an entire generation, works simply didn't enter the public domain:

    
    
        1921 works became public domain in 1977.
        Copyright Act extends the term by 20 years in 1978.
        1922 works became public domain in 1998.
        Sonny Bono Act extends the term by 20 years in 1998.
        1923 works became public domain in 2019.
    

Were it not for these two extensions, we would today see works from 1963
entering the public domain.

Instead, we aren't even up to the first 'talkie' motion pictures.

~~~
Chinjut
Is this true? The few references I find indicate 1921 works became public
domain only in 1997. Perhaps it was 1920 works which became public domain in
1977?

------
TomMckenny
A rare victory for public interest over rentier interests. I so hope it
becomes a trend.

------
dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18801531](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18801531)

------
humantiy
It is crazy to think that if you live to be 95+ you'll get to see something
enter the public domain in your lifetime.

