Happy Public Domain Day!

I’m back, and we’ll start with the best part of New Year’s Day: a whole library of copyrighted works entering the public domain.

When a work’s copyright expires — now a 95-year period in the U.S. — it is free for anyone and everyone to re-use in any way they like. This includes books, movies, songs, other music, anything that was publishable. This year, works from 1925 are now available.

(Before copyright expires, the copyright holder controls who can use/re-use their work. For example, when I wanted to set A Visit to William Blake’s Inn to music, I had to ask Nancy Willard’s permission to create a “derivative work,” which she — always generous — enthusiastically granted.)

The best resource for Public Domain Day is Duke Law School’s annual page, which lists some of the standouts for the year as well as gives an overview of the tangled mess that U.S. copyright law tends to be. It’s worth reading through so that you understand why some works might still be off-limits.

I’m sure everyone is already thinking about their opera versions of The Great Gatsby, but my advice is to avoid the crush and keep looking. (Sinclair Lewis’s Arrowsmith is probably a better bet.)