Public Domain Day

Which is probably also Rule 34 Day, but certainly horror movie featuring a famous fictional animal day. (Winnie-ther-Pooh became a vengeful slasher last year.)

This post from Duke’s Center for the Study of Public Domain covers some of the works that entered public domain yesterday.

On January 1, 2024, thousands of copyrighted works from 1928 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1923. They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. This year’s highlights include Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence and The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman and Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It, and a trove of sound recordings from 1923. And, of course, 2024 marks the long-awaited arrival of Steamboat Willie – featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse – into the public domain. That story is so fascinating, so rich in irony, so rife with misinformation about what you will be able to do with Mickey and Minnie now that they are in the public domain that it deserved its own article, “Mickey, Disney, and the Public Domain: a 95-year Love Triangle.” Why is it a love triangle? What rights does Disney still have? How is trademark law involved? Read all about it here.

As well as a reminder that the Library of Congress is a national treasure trove.

To listen to old recordings, go to the Library of Congress National Jukebox—in 2024 the Library of Congress will make all of the 1923 recordings in its collection available for download from this site, while recordings from 1924 forward will be streaming-only until they are in the public domain.

This is an open thread. But speaking of works in the public domain, would anyone be interested in a group discussion of A Voyage to Arcturus that covers a couple of chapters a month? Otherwise, I’ll try to finish a post before it is 105 years old. 8-p