January 1st is always special. Not only for the turn of the year and the holidays (when possible) but also because it’s the world public domain day. On that date, works protected by copyright whose term of protection has expired are promoted to the status of universal public goods. Anyone can then use the works as they see fit, including editing, translating, adapting, public performance, incorporation into other works, and so on.
In the year 2022, an impressive cast of creations has just entered the public domain. One of the best known is Winnie the Pooh, immortalized by Disney. The book “Winnine the Pooh” (in Brazil “O Bear Puff”), published in 1926, belongs to everyone now, according to US law.
He is not alone. Ernest Hemingway’s book “The Sun Also Rises” was also released. “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” by Agatha Christie, “Sand and Foam” by Gibran Khalil and “The Feathered Serpent” by DH Lawrence are now ours.
In musical territory, the year 2022 is especially important. About 400,000 phonograms entered the public domain this year.
The expressive volume has an explanation. US law was unclear about the duration of copyright for phonograms. The matter was handled by a tangle of state laws that would prevent the public domain from reaching until 2067. Federal law clearly dealt with musical compositions, which had a clear deadline. As for the recordings, it was a god help us.
Everything changed with a new federal law, passed in 2018. The so-called Music Modernization Law determined that phonograms would begin to reach the public domain from January 1st of this year. With this, the countless recordings that were dammed up can now gradually be freed.
Treasures include Pablo Casals performing works by Bach and Liszt, Italian tenor Enrico Caruso singing operas by Verdi, Puccini and Leoncavallo, as well as singing the Neapolitan classic “O Sole Mio”. In jazz, we now have recordings of the New Yorker Mamie Smith, Sophie Tucker cursing her curses on “Some of These Days” and the touching “Jelly Roll Blues” performed by the Norfolk quartet. All too good.
In cinema, the classic of German expressionism “Faust”, by Friedrich Murnau, and the film “Terra de Todos”, with the Swedish Greta Garbo (which has great Carnival scenes), are now ours, alongside several others from 1926. These films contain a wealth of visual and narrative ideas that can now be reinvented in the present.
It is worth remembering that works protected by copyright are often lost due to the impossibility of being republished or even digitized. Only a small fragment of human creativity ends up being preserved over the years. The public domain fulfills the important role of allowing works that reach this stage to circulate and be preserved. More than that, they are a source of creativity, allowing other works to be created from them.
For those who can still have a vacation, here’s the suggestion: dive into the public domain class of 2022.
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I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
