2024 in public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that enter the public domain in 2024. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

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 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2024.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Vladimir Bakaleinikov	Russia	3 October 1885	5 November 1953	Composer and conductor	Elementary Rules of Conducting for Orchestra, Band and Chorus
Henri Bernstein	France	20 June 1876	27 November 1953	Playwright	Works
Elsa Beskow	Sweden	11 February 1874	30 June 1953	Author and illustrator of children's books	Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender Children of the Forest Peter in Blueberry Land
Ugo Betti	Italy	4 February 1892	9 June 1953	Judge and playwright	Works
Georges Le Faure	France	12 June 1856	25 May 1953	Novelist	Works
Ibrahim Lama	Egypt	1904	14 May 1953	Director, Screenwriter	Kubla fil Sahara
Jorge de Lima	Brazil	23 April 1893	15 November 1953	Politician, Physician, Poet, Novelist, Biographer, Essayist, Translator, Painter	Works
Emmanuel de Margerie	France	11 November 1862	20 December 1953	Geographer	Catalogue Des Bibliographies Géologiques
Moses Milner	Russia	29 December 1886	25 October 1953	Composer
Raymond de La Nézière	France	21 February 1865	23 January 1953	Illustrator	Works
Francesco Saverio Nitti	Italy	19 July 1868	20 February 1953	Politician	Works
Francis Picabia	France	22 January 1879	30 November 1953	Painter	Amorous Parade
Sergei Prokofiev	Russia	27 April 1891	5 March 1953	Composer and conductor	Dance of the Knights, The Love for Three Oranges
Graciliano Ramos	Brazil	27 October 1892	20 March 1953	Writer and translator	Vidas secas
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings	United States	8 August 1896	14 December 1953	Author	The Yearling
Ludomir Różycki	Poland	18 September 1883	1 January 1953	Composer	Pan Twardowski
Joseph Stalin	Russia	18 December 1879	5 March 1953	Politician, leader of the Soviet Union	Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR
Jérôme Tharaud	France	18 May 1874	28 January 1953	Writer	Le Gentil Douanier Et Un Artiste Maudit
Marcelo Tupinambá	Brazil	29 May 1889	4 July 1953	Composer
Bernard Carra de Vaux	France	1867	1953	Orientalist	Works
Hank Williams	United States	17 September 1923	1 January 1953	Singer, Songwriter, Musician	Works
Vsevolod Zaderatsky	Russia	21 December 1891	1 February 1953	Composer
John Stepan Zamecnik	United States	14 May 1872	13 June 1953	Composer

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 80 years

Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on 1 January 2024.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Edward Heron-Allen	United Kingdom	17 December 1861	28 March 1943	Author and scientist
Sophie Taeuber-Arp	Switzerland	19 January 1889	13 January 1943	Artist and sculptor
George Washington Carver	United States	1864	5 January 1943	Agricultural scientist, Inventor	Carver bulletins
Hanns Heinz Ewers	Germany	3 November 1871	12 June 1943	Author, poet and actor	Alraune
Nordahl Grieg	Norway	1 November 1902	2 December 1943	Author, poet and political activist	Til Ungdommen ("To the Youth")
Stephen Haggard	United Kingdom	21 March 1911	25 February 1943	Author and actor
Lorenz Hart	United States	2 May 1895	22 November 1943	Lyricist	Works
W. W. Jacobs	United Kingdom	8 September 1863	1 September 1943	Author	The Monkey's Paw
A. Merritt	United States	20 January 1884	21 August 1943	Author and editor	The Moon Pool
John R. Neill	United States	12 November 1877	19 September 1943	Children's book illustrator	Land of Oz
Beatrix Potter	United Kingdom	28 July 1866	22 December 1943	Writer	The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Sergei Rachmaninoff	Russia	1 April 1873	28 March 1943	Composer	Works
Jenő Rejtő	Hungary	29 March 1905	1 January 1943	Author
Nikola Tesla	Serbia	1 April 1873	28 March 1943	Inventor, Engineer, Futurist	Various writings
Gustav Vigeland	Norway	11 April 1869	12 March 1943	Sculptor

Countries with life + 60 years

India

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

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
Edith Hamilton	United States	12 August 1867	31 May 1963	Educator, author, classicist	The Greek Way
Martti Haavio	Finland	22 January 1899	4 February 1973	Poet, Folklorist, Mythologist	Bjarmien vallan kukoistus ja tuho
Lyndon B. Johnson	United States	27 August 1908	22 January 1973	Politician, President of the United States	Choices We Face, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency, 1963-1969
Jacques Maritain	France	18 November 1882	28 April 1973	Philosopher	Works
Pablo Neruda	Chile	12 July 1904	23 September 1973	Poet	Works
Pablo Picasso	Spain	25 October 1881	8 April 1973	Painter
J. R. R. Tolkien	United Kingdom	3 January 1892	2 September 1973	Writer, Poet, Philologist	The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings'
Tarsila do Amaral	Brazil	1 September 1886	17 January 1973	Painter	Abaporu

Entering the public domain in Australia

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 bought some e.g. British 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).

Entering the public domain in the United States

See also: Public domain in the United States

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1928, films released in 1928, and other works published in 1928, will enter the public domain in 2024. Sound recordings that were published in 1923 will enter the public domain.

Unpublished works whose authors died in 1953 will enter the public domain.

Among the works that will enter public domain in 2024 are the silent version of Charlie Chaplin's The Circus, Harold Lloyd's final silent feature Speedy, Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf, Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall, The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft, and the last book about Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne: The House at Pooh Corner.

The earliest incarnation of Mickey Mouse will be a public domain work in 2024 through Steamboat Willie and The Gallopin' Gaucho.

See also

• 1953 in literature and 1973 in literature for deaths of writers
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons

External links

• Media related to Public Domain Day 2024 at Wikimedia Commons
• "Authors by Year of Death – 1953". AuthorAndBookInfo.com.
• Popular Books of 1928 at Goodreads