2019 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2019. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

With the exception of Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in the European Union 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime.^[1][2] For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. Russia uses Life + 74 for authors who worked during World War II, otherwise copyright is Life + 70.^[3] The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2019.

In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with the United States and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which brought some e.g. British authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors would come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).

On January 1, 2019, any unpublished work by an author who died in 1948 or before entered the public domain.^[4] Additionally, any published literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work (other than computer programs) by a not generally known author (anonymous or pseudonymous) from 1948 or before entered the public domain.

2019 was the first year since 1998 in which the majority of media from a previous year entered the public domain after the expiration of its copyright term.^[5] 2019 is also the first year in this annual process, where 1923 works become public domain that year, then 1924 works in 2020, and so on forward.^[5]

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books, films, and other works published in the United States in 1923 entered the public domain in 2019.^[6] Additionally, unpublished works whose authors died in 1948 entered the public domain. Foreign works from 1923 that were never published in the United States may be in the public domain as well.^[7] This was the first time since January 1, 1998, that a new group of works entered the public domain in the United States. From now on, works governed by the Copyright Act of 1909 will enter the public domain at the end of the 95th calendar year from publication. For example, 1924 works entered the public domain on January 1, 2020, 1925 works in 2021, and so forth.

No United States audio recordings entered the public domain (as those fixed before February 15, 1972 were covered by state laws only), but international audio recordings published in 1923 entered the public domain in 2019. Under the Music Modernization Act, 1923 domestic audio recordings entered the public domain in 2024. However, all sheet music published in 1923 in the United States entered the public domain in 2019.

Some of the works that entered public domain are The Great American Novel by William Carlos Williams, Charlie Chaplin's The Pilgrim, Harold Lloyd's Safety Last!, Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, Aldous Huxley's Antic Hay, and the first 2 volumes of Winston Churchill’s The World Crisis.^[5] While Christie, Huxley, and Churchill were all non-American authors, these works were also published in the United States and their copyright was registered and renewed.^[8] Hence, copyright expired in 2019.

On January 24, 2019 it was announced that Nina Paley was placing her 2018 film Seder-Masochism in the public domain.^[9]

On January 13, 2019, the Cleveland Museum of Art released 30,000 high quality digital images into the public domain.^[10]

The European Commission announced it will start using a CC0-license to share published documents, including photos, videos, reports, peer-reviewed studies, and data.^[11]

Jim Davis's lost first comics from the 1970s, Gnorm Gnat and Jon (a prototypical iteration of the famous Garfield) were discovered by YouTuber Quinton Reviews,^[12] making it public knowledge that the characters and jokes within are public domain, as the comics and Pendleton Times newspaper were published without copyright notices.

• List of American films of 1923
• List of countries' copyright lengths
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons
• Public Domain
• Over 300 public domain authors available in Wikisource (any language), with descriptions from Wikidata
• 1948 in literature, 1958 in literature, 1968 in literature and 1978 in literature

• Media related to Public Domain Day 2019 at Wikimedia Commons
• "Authors by Year of Death – 1948". AuthorAndBookInfo.com.
• Popular Books of 1923 at Goodreads.