Copyright law can be a bit convoluted, but occasionally, the legislature does things that actually simplify life. One thing they did was to make all the copyrights expire on December 31 rather than throughout the year. The 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act gave works published or registered before 1978 a 95-year term, expiring on January 1 after the conclusion of the 95th year.
That means that on January 1, 2025, copyrighted works from 1929 will enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1924 (thanks to the Music Modernization Act’s “Classics Protection and Access Act”). They will be free for all to copy, distribute, and modify without permission or payment to the owner of the copyright. Be ready for more commercials that include An American in Paris, Bolero, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, and Singin’ in the Rain.
The literary highlights from 1929 sound a bit like a high school English Literature class with books like The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. Need something a little less scholarly? Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest and The Maltese Falcon are now public domain as is Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials Mystery.
Perhaps we’ll see a new TV series based on Sam Spade’s adventures or a social media storm of dancing in the rain. I can’t wait to find out!