When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2020. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works is not uniform.
With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of Life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987), a work enters the public domain in Europe at the end of the calendar year following 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. Russia has a 4-year extension to Life+ 70 (in essence Life+74) for authors who worked during World War II in the Soviet Union.[1] [2] The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2020.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Truslow Adams | Writer | The March of Democracy | ||||
| Virginia M. Alexander | Physician | Publications | ||||
| Hervey Allen |  United States | Author | Anthony Adverse | |||
| Masaharu Anesaki | Historian | History of Japanese Religion | ||||
| Mary Antin | Writer | The Promised Land | ||||
| Josef Maria Auchentaller |  Austria | Artist | Bunte Bände | |||
| Alice Bailey | Writer | Works | ||||
| Rodolfo Garcia (pt) |  Brazil | Historian | ||||
| Hassan al-Banna | imam | Mudhakkirât al-da'wa wa al-dâ'iya | ||||
| Philip Barry | Playwright | Holiday | ||||
| Billy Baskette | Pianist, composer | Good Bye Broadway, Hello France | ||||
| Rex Beach | Writer, Olympic athlete | The Spoilers | ||||
| H. Bedford-Jones | Writer | The John Solomon series | ||||
| Khalil Beidas | 1874 | 1949 | novelist | Works | ||
| Federico Beltrán Masses | Painter | |||||
| Friedrich Bergius | Chemist | Bergius process | ||||
| Elsa Bernstein | Writer | Königskinder | ||||
| Musa Bigiev | (O. S.) | Theologian | Selected works | |||
| Elisheva Bikhovski |  Israel | Writer, Translator | Simta'ot | |||
| Writer | ||||||
| Gustavus M. Blech | Physician | Practical Suggestions in Borderland Surgery | ||||
| Leonard Bloomfield | Linguist | Selected publications | ||||
| George Botsford | Composer | |||||
| Robert Boudrioz | Film director, screenwriter | The Man with a Broken Ear | ||||
| Umberto Brunelleschi | Artist, Illustrator | |||||
| Guillermo Buitrago |  Colombia | Composer | La Vispera de Año Nuevo | |||
| Harry Burleigh | Composer, singer | settings of spirituals | ||||
| Helen Churchill Candee | Writer, feminist | Angkor the Magnificent | ||||
| Reg Carter | Cartoonist | Big Eggo | ||||
| N. D. Cocea |  Romania | Journalist, Novelist | Vinul de viață lungă | |||
| Richard Connell | Writer | The Most Dangerous Game | ||||
| Carlo Conti Rossini | 1872 | 1949 | Orientalist | Italia ed Etiopia dal trattato di Uccialli alla battaglia d'Adua | ||
| Dorothea Conyers |  Ireland | Novelist | ||||
| Will Cuppy | Humorist | How to be a Hermit | ||||
| Stoyan Danev |  Bulgaria | Jurist and politician | ||||
| Norman Davey | Engineer, Writer | The Pilgrim of a Smile | ||||
| Edgar De Lange | Composer | |||||
| Félix d'Herelle | Microbiologist | Published works | ||||
| Georgi Dimitrov | Bulgaria | Politician, revolutionary | Georgi Dimitrov bibliography | |||
| Grigoraș Dinicu | Composer | Hora staccato | ||||
| Ali Douagi | sketch artist | Sahirtu minhu al-layali | ||||
| Alexander Drankov | photographer, cameraman, film producer | |||||
| William Price Drury | Writer, soldier, politician | The Flag Lieutenant | ||||
| Inés Echeverría Bello | 1868 | 1949 | Writer | Entre Deux Mondes | ||
| Arthur Eichengrün | Chemist | 50 Jahre Aspirin | ||||
| novelist | Silkkilaiva | |||||
| James Ensor |  Belgium | Artist | Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889 | |||
| Herbert Eulenberg | Writer | Schattenbilder. Eine Fibel für Kulturbedürftige in Deutschland | ||||
| August Fischer | Orientalist | Arabische Chrestomathie aus Prosaschriftstellern | ||||
| Victor Fleming | Film Director | The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind | ||||
| James Forrestal | Politician | The Forrestal Diaries | ||||
| Nikolay Gamaleya | Physician, microbiologist | |||||
| Henri Giraud | General | Mes Evasions, Un seul but; la victoire: Alger 1942-1944 | ||||
| Poet | Song about Shchors | |||||
| Orientalist | El amor entre los musulmanes españoles, El tesoro de los Nazaríes | |||||
| Hari Singh Gour |  India | Jurist, educator, writer | The Penal Law of India | |||
| Martin Grabmann | Priest, Historian | Thomas Aquinas: His Personality and Thought | ||||
| Stanisław Grabski |  Poland | Economist, Politician | ||||
| Major Greenwood | Epidemiologist | Publications | ||||
| Joan Lamote de Grignon | Composer | La nit de Nadal | ||||
| George Gurdjieff | spiritual teacher | The Herald of Coming Good | ||||
| František Halas |  Czech Republic | Poet, translator | ||||
| Fritz Hart | Composer, conductor | |||||
| Syed Zafarul Hasan |  Pakistan | Philosopher | Realism | |||
| Kunihiko Hashimoto | Composer | Azami no Hana | ||||
| Will Hay | Comedian, amateur astronomer | Through My Telescope | ||||
| Burton J. Hendrick | Author | The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page | ||||
| Johann Jakob Hess | Egyptologist | Von den Beduinen des inneren Arabiens | ||||
| Ludwig Hohlwein | Poster artist | |||||
| William Jackson Humphreys | United States | physicist | Bibliography | |||
| Otto Hupp | graphical artist | Wappen und Siegel der deutschen Städte, Flecken und Dörfer | ||||
| Douglas Hyde | linguist | The necessity for de-anglicising the Irish nation | ||||
| Edmond Jaloux | Novelist | Works | ||||
| Josep Maria Jujol |  Spain | Architect | Casa Batlló, Park Güell | |||
| Writer | Die Mutter der Neun | |||||
| Clarence Jones | Composer | |||||
| Pierre Jouguet | Egyptologist | Works | ||||
| Unno Juza | Writer of science fiction | |||||
| Anna Karima | Bulgaria | Writer and translator | ||||
| Selâhattin Kantar | 1878 | playwright | Kara Dana | |||
| Hans Kindler | United States | Conductor, cellist, arranger of music | Recordings | |||
| Hugh Kingsmill | Writer, journalist | |||||
| Martin Knudsen | Physicist | The Kinetic Theory of Gases | ||||
| József Koszta |  Hungary | Painter | Girl with Geraniums | |||
| Fritz Krischen | Archaeologist, Architect | Die Stadtmauern von Pompeji und griechische Festungsbaukunst in Unteritalien und Sizilien | ||||
| August Krogh | Zoologist | The Respiratory Exchange of Animals and Man | ||||
| Albert Christian Kruyt | Ethnographer | The Bare'e speaking Toraja of Central Sulawesi | ||||
| Lead Belly | Musician, songwriter | Goodnight, Irene | ||||
| Vasily Lebedev-Kumach | Poet | The Sacred War | ||||
| Fidelio Ponce de León |  Cuba | Painter | Niňos | |||
| Ernst Lommatzsch | Classical scholar | Corpus inscriptionum latinarum: Vol. 1. Inscriptiones Latinae antiquissimae | ||||
| Albert Howe Lybyer | United States | 1876 | 1949 | orientalist | The Government of the Ottoman Empire in the Time of Suleiman the Magnificent | |
| Carmen Lyra | 1888 | Writer | Cuentos De Mi Tia Panchita | |||
| Antonio Machado | Poet | Works | ||||
| Maurice Maeterlinck | Playwright | Works | ||||
| René Maire | botanist | Flore de l'Afrique du Nord | ||||
| Jane Mander |  New Zealand | Novelist | The Story of a New Zealand River | |||
| Klaus Mann | Novelist | Mephisto | ||||
| J. C. Mardrus | 1868 | 1949 | Orientalist | Works | ||
| Paul Marc | Byzantine scholar | Die hellenistisch-jüdische Literatur | ||||
| Wilhelm von Massow | Archaeologist | Das römische Trier | ||||
| Elton Mayo | Psychologist | Publications | ||||
| Ibrahim al-Mazini | 1949 | Writer | Spider Webs | |||
| Stefan Meyer | Physicist | Radioaktivität | ||||
| Margaret Mitchell | Novelist | Gone with the Wind | ||||
| Axel Munthe |  Sweden | Psychiatrist | The Story of San Michele | |||
| Khalil Mutran | poet | |||||
| Sarojini Naidu | Poet | Works | ||||
| Vladimir Nazor |  Croatia | Poet, politician | ||||
| Makino Nobuaki | Statesman | Makino Nobuaki nikki | ||||
| Vítězslav Novák | Composer | Bouře | ||||
| Carlos Obligado |  Argentina | Writer, critic | March of the Malvinas | |||
| Sidney Olcott |  Canada | Film director | The Pony Express | |||
| Francesco Pasinetti | Film Director, screenwriter | The Canal of the Angels | ||||
| Elin Pelin | Bulgaria | Writer | ||||
| Una Pope-Hennessy | Historian | Secret Societies and the French Revolution | ||||
| Camillo Praschniker | Archaeologist | Archäologische Forschungen in Albanien und Montenegro | ||||
| Guillermo Tell Villegas Pulido | politician | Works | ||||
| Alfred Rehder | Botanist | Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs, Hardy in North America | ||||
| Albert Rehm | Classical scholar | Mythographische Untersuchungen über griechische Sternsagen | ||||
| Gennaro Righelli | Film director, screenwriter | Svengali | ||||
| Tod Robbins | United States | 1888 | 1949 | writer | Works | |
| Julius Ruska | Orientalist | Al Razi (Rhases) als Chemiker | ||||
| Antoun Saadeh | Politician | Nushu' al-Umam | ||||
| E. Robert Schmitz | Composer | The Piano works of Claude Debussy | ||||
| Paul Schultze-Naumburg | Architect | Die Kunst der Deutschen. Ihr Wesen und ihre Werke | ||||
| Alexey Shchusev | Architect | Lenin's Mausoleum | ||||
| Nikos Skalkottas |  Greece | Composer | List of compositions by Nikos Skalkottas | |||
| G. E. M. Skues | Writer, fly fisherman | The Way of a Trout with the Fly | ||||
| Frank Smythe | Mountaineer, author, photographer | The Kangchenjunga Adventure | ||||
| Edith Somerville | Novelist | The Irish R.M. | ||||
| Otto Stählin | Classical scholar | Die hellenistisch-jüdische Literatur | ||||
| Edward Stettinius | Politician | Roosevelt and the Russians | ||||
| Herbert Stothart | Composer, songwriter, conductor | Score for The Wizard of Oz | ||||
| Richard Strauss | Composer | List of compositions | ||||
| Harry Stack Sullivan | Psychiatrist | Works | ||||
| Ali Mahmoud Taha | Poet | Nights of the Lost Sailor, Palestine | ||||
| Edward Thorndike | United States | Psychologist | Works | |||
| Joaquín Torres-García |  Uruguay | Artist, writer | ||||
| Gancho Tsenov | Bulgaria | Historian | ||||
| Joaquín Turina | Composer | Danzas fantásticas | ||||
| Uemura Shōen | Artist | Jo-no-mai | ||||
| Sigrid Undset | Novelist | Works | ||||
| Shabbir Ahmad Usmani | theologian | Fathul Mulhim Sharh Sahih Muslim | ||||
| Raimond Valgre |  Estonia | composer, musician | ||||
| Josef Velenovský | botanist | Works | ||||
| Oswald Garrison Villard | Journalist, civil rights activist | John Brown 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After | ||||
| Rosy Wertheim | Composer | |||||
| Elin Wägner | Novelist | The Penholder | ||||
| Lee "Lasses" White | United States | Pianist, songwriter, actor | ||||
| E. H. Young | Novelist and children's writer | |||||
| Arthur Leo Zagat | United States | Writer, lawyer | ||||
| Nikola Zhekov | General | Memoirs | ||||
| Oton Župančič |  Slovenia | Writer, translator | Ciciban |
In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago Key Ayala | Historian, diplomat | |||||
| Haricharan Bandopadhayaya | India | Scholar, dictionary compiler | ||||
| Barindra Kumar Ghosh | India | Journalist | ||||
| Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram | India | Film lyricist | ||||
| Abdur Razzaq Malihabadi | India | 1895 | 1959 | Writer | ||
| J. R. Rangaraju | India | 1875 | 1959 | Novelist | ||
| Govind Sakharam Sardesai | India | Historian |
In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand, Egypt and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain at the end of the calendar year following 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 European 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 will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).
Unpublished works by authors who died in 1949 entered the public domain on 1 January 2020.[3] Any published literary, artistic, dramatic, or musical work (other than computer programs) by a not generally known author (anonymous or pseudonymous) from 1949 also entered the public domain on that date.
See also: Public domain in the United States.
Works that entered the public domain on January 1, 2020, in the United States include:
Some of the published works that entered the public domain[5] include the earliest sheet music[6] for George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Buster Keaton's silent comedy film Sherlock Jr.[7] [8]
In October 2020, satirical singer/songwriter Tom Lehrer announced the release of all of his lyrics and music to the public domain.[9]
Philippines
Armenia
Paraguay
France
Australia
Equatorial Guinea
Uganda
Bangladesh