International Public Domain Day 2024: Significance, History and other important info

International Public Domain Day is celebrated all over the world on January 1^st and observes the entry of expired copyrights in public domain.

Although the actual origin of the day is not known, the earliest known mention of the observance of a “Public Domain Day” was in 2004. 

The upcoming Public Domain Day will be observed on January 1, 2024 and all popular books, stories and films first copyrighted in 1927 will enter the public domain on this day.

International Public Domain Day 2024 Date

Check below the date of International Public Domain Day in coming years:

International Public Domain Day 2024 Overview

Significance of International Public Domain Day

The main objective of celebrating International Public Domain Day is to understand the copyright laws, the way they work and how an expired copyright automatically reaches the public domain after a given time period.

Other than this, this special day also celebrates the work of world’s finest artist entering the public domain. When this happens, the works of numerous artists, such as writers, photographers, musicians, etc can be used for numerous information sites and the permission of the artist is no longer needed.

The International Public Domain Day 2024 will be observed with the same significance on January 1^st, 2024.

Copyright & Public Domain

Copyright protects the work of artists or any individual from unauthorized usage and can also be used after taking permission from the artist. In case, the creators do not renew the copyright or had been dead for a period of 70 years, the copyright expires and the work of the creator enters the public domain.

Normally, the duration is 70 years in USA, Europe and many other countries but this varies from one country to another. This means that after the death of the artist, his/ her work becomes public domain, fully accessible to everyone. The International Public Domain Day is observed to celebrate this free access of notable work in history.

History of International Public Domain Day Observation

The actual establishment of International Public Domain Day is not known. However, the first mention of this day was in 2004 Wallace McLean (a Canadian public domain activist) and supported by Lawrence Lessig.

The day is also mentioned by Project Gutenberg and has been promoted by Creative Commons. In US, the International Public Domain Day is observed on January 1^st and have been observed on various other dates in countries including Poland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Israel.

Notable works entering the public domain in the United States

January 1^st marks the celebration of International Public Domain Day and many notable works of many popular artists is about to enter the public domain on this day. Check out the  list of important pieces of works that are about to enter the public domain the coming  International Public Domain Day.

Movies:

• Fritz Lang’s iconic silent film, Metropolis
• First feature talkie The Jazz Singer
• First Academy Award for Best Picture winner Wings
• Lost film London After Midnight
• Three-time Academy Award-winning Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
• Epic historical film Napoléon
• Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

About world hypnotism day

Books:

• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• Show Boat by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern
• Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
• The Hardy Boys, original versions of the first three books
• Last two short stories in the Canon of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
• H. Rider Haggard’s final book of Allan Quatermain, Allan and the Ice-gods

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