When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2017. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
With the exception of Belarus, 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, 2017. This term also applies to unpublished works in the United States (otherwise see below).
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Adami | librettist | Libretti for three operas composed by Giacomo Puccini | ||||
| Eriks Ādamsons | writer, poet, translator | |||||
| Armando Augusto Freire (Armandinho) | Fado guitarist and composer | |||||
| Louis Bachelier | Mathematician | |||||
| Herbert Baker | Architect | |||||
| Helen Bannerman | Writer | The Story of Little Black Sambo | ||||
| Granville Bantock | composer | |||||
| James Bernard | Elocutionist | |||||
| Allan Cyril Brooks | Ornithologist, illustrator and artist | |||||
| Composer | ||||||
| Charles Despiau | Sculptor | |||||
| J. Michael Diack | Composer, arranger | Arranged nursery rhymes in the style of Handel | ||||
| Manuel de Falla | Composer | Nights in the Gardens of Spain, Ritual Fire Dance | ||||
| W. C. Fields | Writer | |||||
| Jane Findlater | Writer | |||||
| Dion Fortune | Writer and occultist | The Demon Lover, The Winged Bull, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess | ||||
| Wanda Gág | Children's book author, artist, translator and illustrator | Millions of Cats | ||||
| Gerhart Hauptmann | Writer, Nobel Prize laureate | The Weavers, Bahnwärter Thiel (De) | ||||
| Patty Hill | Songwriter | Happy Birthday to You (with sister Mildred J. Hill, who predeceased her) | ||||
| Violet Jacob | Writer and poet | |||||
| John Maynard Keynes | Economist | A Treatise on Money | ||||
| Hermann von Keyserling | Philosopher | |||||
| Otis Adelbert Kline | Literary agent and science fiction writer | |||||
| Paul Langevin | Physicist | |||||
| Henri Le Fauconnier | Painter | |||||
| Józef Mehoffer | Painter and decorative artist | |||||
| Adolph de Meyer | Photographer | |||||
| László Moholy-Nagy | Painter and photographer | Light-Space Modulator | ||||
| Paul Nash | Painter/photographer | |||||
| Mikhail Nesterov | [3] | Painter | ||||
| Feliks Nowowiejski | Composer | Rota (music) | ||||
| Clemente Palma |  Peru | Author | ||||
| Júlio Prestes |  Brazil | Politician | ||||
| Damon Runyon | Writer and newspaperman | |||||
| Abel Salazar (scientist) | Scientist and Painter | |||||
| Alice Sauvrezis | Composer | |||||
| Ernest Thompson Seton | Writer and wildlife artist | Wild Animals I Have Known | ||||
| May Sinclair | Writer | |||||
| Václav Špála | Painter | |||||
| Léon Spilliaert | Painter | |||||
| Gertrude Stein | Writer | The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Three Lives | ||||
| Karl Hans Strobl | Author and editor | |||||
| Harry Von Tilzer | Songwriter | Ziegfeld Follies | ||||
| Frona Eunice Wait | Author and newspaper writer | Wines and Vines of California | ||||
| George Henry Weiss | Writer of science fiction and poetry | The Night People | ||||
| H. G. Wells | Writer | The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man | ||||
| Stewart Edward White | Writer and spiritualist | |||||
| Cornel Simanjuntak | Songwriter | Maju Tak Gentar, Sorak-Sorak Bergembira, Bungaku, Indonesia Tetap Merdeka, Ku Pinta Lagi, Maju Indonesia | ||||
| Alfred Rosenberg | Politician, writer | The Myth of the Twentieth Century | ||||
| Paul Zech | Poet | Die lasterhaften Balladen und Lieder des François Villon | ||||
| Heinrich Freiherr von Stackelberg | Economist | Marktform und Gleichgewicht |
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Canada, Belarus, Bolivia, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay, a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.
See also: Copyright law of Australia.
In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with America 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). 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 will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).
See also: Public domain in the United States.
The Copyright Term Extension Act means no published works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019.[4] The exception are unpublished works, which are subject to 70 years after the death of the creator, as above.
Uruguay
France
Switzerland
United States
Nepal