NEW YEAR BOOST FOR THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

What’s so special about 1 January, asks the IPKat? No, it’s nothing to do with the New Year ― it’s the date on which you can copy all the stories, paintings, musical compositions and other works that fell outside the scope of copyright protection at the stroke of midnight on 31 December. This is because the copyright term does not expire on the anniversary of an author’s death but at the end of the year in which he or she dies.

In countries which protect authors’ works until the end of the 70th year following the year of death, the following are now out of copyright and their oeuvres may be copied with impunity:

John Galsworthy (born 1867): British Nobel Prize winning novelist and author of the forerunner of all today’s soap operas, The Forsyte Saga;

Calvin Coolidge (born 1872): 30th President of the United States, Coolidge was the author of some of the greatest sound-bites ever coined and also wrote a syndicated column of political commentaries after his retirement;

Adolf Loos (born 1870): influential Austrian architect some of whose works can be seen here, here and here

Stefan George (born 1878): German poet who was influenced by classicism and by Nietzsche;

In those countries which still protect authors’ works until the end of the 50th year following the year of death, the following are now out of copyright:

Sergei Prokofiev (born 1891); Russian composer of works such as Peter and the Wolf, as well as much orchestral, ballet and chamber music (click here http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/profiles/prokofiev.shtml for audio clips);

Raoul Dufy (born 1877): French artist and “the granddaddy of modern chic”;

Django Reinhardt (born 1910): Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist and founder member of the Hot Club de Paris quintet (discography and some audio clips here;

Dylan Thomas (born 1914): Welsh poet and playwright, author of the celebrated radio play Under Milk Wood ;

Eugene O’Neill (born 1888): American playwright and Nobel Prize winner, author of Mourning Becomes Electra.

There is something missing from this list: women. The IPKat invites readers to post, below, the names and details of significant women whose works are now freely available in life-plus-70 or life-plus-50 countries.