When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2010. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
With the exception of Belarus & Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime.[1] [2] The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2010.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margarete Böhme | novelist, short story writer | Tagebuch einer Verlorenen | ||||
| Solomon Cleaver | novelist | Jean Val Jean | ||||
| Ethel M. Dell | romance novelist | The Rocks of Valpré | ||||
| Mary Frances Dowdall | novelist | Susie Yesterday, To-Day, and Forever, ; Three Loving Ladies, The Tactless Man | ||||
| Havelock Ellis | medical textbook writer, eugenicist, psychologist | Studies in the Psychology of Sex Vol. 2, A Study of British Genius | ||||
| Ford Madox Ford | novelist, poet | The Good Soldier, Parade's End | ||||
| Sigmund Freud | Neurologist and psychoanalyst | Introduction to Psychoanalysis, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Civilization and Its Discontents | ||||
| Ludwig Fulda | novelist, playwright, poet | Der Seeräuber, Aladdin und die Wunderlampe | ||||
| Agnes Giberne | children's writer, novelist, science writer | Sun, Moon and Stars: Astronomy for Beginners, Among the Stars, or wonderful things in the sky | ||||
| Zane Grey | Western novelist | Riders of the Purple Sage, The Rainbow Trail | ||||
| Richard Halliburton | travel writer | The Royal Road to Romance, The Glorious Adventure | ||||
| Robin Hyde | novelist, poet | Passport to Hell, Check To Your King | ||||
| Vladislav Khodasevich | poet, memoirist | Heavy Lyre, Necropolis, | ||||
| Volter Kilpi | novelist | Alastalon salissa | ||||
| Alcina Leite Pindahíba (pt) | Educator | Campesinas[3] | ||||
| Antonio Machado | poet | Juan de Mairena | ||||
| Leonard Merrick | novelist, short story writer, playwright | Mr Bazalgette's Agent, Conrad in Quest of His Youth | ||||
| Alphonse Mucha | Painter, illustrator and graphic artist | The Slav Epic | ||||
| Kanoko Okamoto | poet, short story writer | A Riot of Goldfish | ||||
| Llewelyn Powys | essayist, novelist | A Pagan's Pilgrimage, Now That The Gods Are Dead | ||||
| Arthur Rackham | book illustrator | illustrations for Rip Van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels | ||||
| Maurice Renard | Author | The Hands of Orlac and The Blue Peril | ||||
| Amanda McKittrick Ros | novelist, poet | Irene Iddesleigh | ||||
| Joseph Roth | novelist, essayist | The Wandering Jews, Radetzky March | ||||
| E. C. Segar | cartoonist | Popeye, Thimble Theatre | ||||
| Caton Theodorian | playwright, poet, short story writer and novelist | Bujoreștii ("The Bujorescus") | ||||
| S. S. Van Dine | mystery writer | The Benson Murder Case, The Bishop Murder Case | ||||
| Amy Catherine Walton | children's writer | A Peep Behind the Scenes | ||||
| W. B. Yeats | poet, dramatist, prose writer | The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems, The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics |
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manuel Altolaguirre |  Spain | poet, screenwriter | Las islas invitadas y otros poemas(The Invited Isle and Other Poems), El triunfo de las germanías (The Triumph of the Brotherhood of the Guilds) | |||
| Maxwell Anderson |  United States | playwright, poet | Both Your Houses, Joan of Lorraine | |||
| Edwin Balmer | United States | Author | When Worlds Collide | |||
| Johan Bojer |  Norway | novelist, playwright | Den siste viking (The Last of the Vikings), Vor egen stamme(The Emigrants) | |||
| Arnolt Bronnen |  Austria | playwright | Parricide, Birth of Youth | |||
| Emil František Burian |  Czech Republic | poet, playwright | Member of Osvobozené divadlo | |||
| Raymond Chandler | United States | detective fiction novelist, screenwriter | The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely, ; The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye | |||
| Laxmi Prasad Devkota |  Nepal | poet, playwright, novelist | Muna Madan, Shakuntala | |||
| Apsley Cherry-Garrard |  United Kingdom | memoirist | The Worst Journey in the World | |||
| G. D. H. Cole | United Kingdom | political theorist, economist, historian, short story writer | The Brooklyn Murders, The Death of a Millionaire | |||
| W. W. Greg | United Kingdom | bibliographer, Shakespearean scholar | Dramatic Documents from the Elizabethan Playhouses, English Literary Autographs, 1550–1650 | |||
| Otfrid von Hanstein |  Germany | Author | ||||
| Laurence Housman | United Kingdom | novelist, playwright, illustrator | An Englishwoman's Love-letters, Victoria Regina | |||
| Julien Josephson | United States | screenwriter | Lady Windermere's Fan, The Bat, Heidi, Wee Willie Winkie | |||
| Alfred Kubin | Austria | Author and illustrator | The Other Side | |||
| Edwin Muir | United Kingdom | Poet, Novelist | The Present Age from 1914, The Scots and Their Country | |||
| Luis Palés Matos |  Puerto Rico | Poet | El palacio en sombras (The Palace in Shadows), Falsa canción de baquiné (False Song of a funeral for a child) | |||
| Benjamin Péret |  France | Poet | Le Passager du transatlantique, De derrière les fagots | |||
| Sax Rohmer | United Kingdom | crime novelist, horror fiction writer | The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu, Brood of the Witch-Queen | |||
| Alfred Schütz | Austria | philosopher, social phenomenologist | William James' Concept of the Stream of Consciousness Phenomenologically Interpreted, The Stranger | |||
| Pauline Smith |  South Africa | novelist, short story writer, memoirist, playwright | The Little Karoo, The Beadle | |||
| Galaktion Tabidze |  Georgia | poet | The Wind Blows | |||
| José Vasconcelos |  Mexico | philosopher | La raza cósmica (The Cosmic Race) | |||
| Boris Vian | France | novelist | I Spit on Your Graves, Froth on the Daydream | |||
| Percy F. Westerman | United Kingdom | children's writer | King of Kilba |
See also: Public domain in the United States. In the United States, the copyright status of works extends for the life of the author or artists, plus 70 years.[4] [5] If the work is owned by a corporation, then the copyright extends 95 years.[6]
Due to the passing of the Copyright Term Extension Act (Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act) in 1998, no new works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019.[7]