When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2007. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entered the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

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With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (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, 2007.

Names Country Birth Death Occupation Notable work
James Churchward   United Kingdom 27 February 1851 4 January 1936 occult writer. The Lost Continent of Mu, the Motherland of Men, The Children of Mu
Ramón del Valle-Inclán   Spain 28 October 1866 5 January 1936 dramatist, novelist. El marqués de Bradomín. Coloquios románticos (The Marquis of Bradomin. Romantic meetings), Bohemian Lights
Mateiu Caragiale   Romania 25 March 1885 17 January 1936 novelist, poet. Craii de Curtea-Veche (Rakes of the Old Court), Remember
Rudyard Kipling   United Kingdom 30 December 1865 18 January 1936 novelist, poet, short-story writer. The Jungle Book, The Second Jungle Book
Elizabeth Robins Pennell   United States 21 February 1855 7 February 1936 art critic, biographer, memoirist, travel writer. Nights: Rome & Venice in the Aesthetic Eighties, London & Paris in the Fighting Nineties
Rahel Sanzara   Germany 9 February 1894 8 February 1936 novelist. Das verlorene Kind (The Lost Child), Die glückliche Hand
Lidia Veselitskaya   Russia 17 March 1857 23 February 1936 novelist, short-story writer, memoirist, translator. Mimi's Marriage, Mimi at the Springs, Mimi Poisons Herself
Mikhail Kuzmin   Russia 18 October 1872 1 March 1936 musician, novelist, poet. Wings, Alexandrian Songs
A. de Herz   Romania 15 December 1887 9 March 1936 playwright, poet, short-story writer. Păianjenul (The Spider), Noaptea Învierii (Resurrection Night)
Marguerite Durand   France 24 January 1864 16 March 1936 journalist, pamphlet writer. founder of the newspaper La Fronde (The Sling)
A. E. Housman   United Kingdom 26 March 1859 30 April 1936 classical scholar, poet. A Shropshire Lad, Last Poems
Robert E. Howard   United States 22 January 1906 11 June 1936 sword and sorcery writer. The Hour of the Dragon, Worms of the Earth
M. R. James   United Kingdom 1 August 1862 12 June 1936 ghost story writer, medievalist, antiquarian. Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, More Ghost Stories
Karl Kraus   Austria 28 April 1874 12 June 1936 essayist, playwright, poet, satirist. Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind), Literatur oder man wird doch da sehn (Literature, or You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet)
G. K. Chesterton   United Kingdom 29 May 1874 14 June 1936 mystery writer, philosopher, lay theologian, apologist. The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Man Who Was Thursday
Maxim Gorky   Russia 28 March 1868 18 June 1936 novelist, playwright, poet, short-story writer. The Life of Klim Samgin, The Artamonov Business
Donald Maxwell   United Kingdom 14 April 1877 25 July 1936 travel writer, illustrator. regular illustrator for the newspapers The Graphic and Church Times
F. J. Harvey Darton   United Kingdom 22 September 1878 26 July 1936 literary historian, novelist, publisher. The Story of English Children's Books in England: Five Centuries of Social Life, Alibi Pilgrimage
Mourning Dove   United States 1884 8 August 1936 Western novelist, folklore writer. Cogewea, Coyote Stories
Grazia Deledda   Italy 27 September 1871 15 August 1936 novelist. After the Divorce, Canne al vento (Reeds in the wind)
Federico García Lorca   Spain 5 June 1898 19 August 1936 playwright, poet. The Butterfly's Evil Spell, The Billy-Club Puppets
Juliette Adam   France 4 October 1836 23 August 1936 novelist, memoirist. Mes premières armes littéraires et politiques, Mes sentiments et nos idées avant 1870
J. Slauerhoff   Netherlands 15 September 1898 5 October 1936 novelist, poet. Het verboden rijk (The forbidden kingdom), Oost-Azië (East Asia)
Stefan Grabiński   Poland 26 February 1887 12 November 1936 horror writer. Z Wyjątków. W Pomrokach Wiary (Exceptions: In the Dark of Faith), Na Wzgórzu Róż (On the Hill of Roses)
Luigi Pirandello   Italy 28 June 1867 10 December 1936 dramatist, novelist, poet, short-story writer. The Late Mattia Pascal, Six Characters in Search of an Author
Frances Garnet Wolseley, 2nd Viscountess Wolseley   United Kingdom 15 September 1872 24 December 1936 gardening writer. Gardening for Women, Women on the Land
Kristína Royová   Slovakia 18 August 1860 27 December 1936 novelist, poet. Bez Boha na svete (Without God in the world), Bludári (Heretics)
John Cornford   United Kingdom 27 December 1915 28 December 1936 poet. Full Moon At Tierz
Miguel de Unamuno   Spain 29 September 1864 31 December 1936 classics scholar, novelist, playwright, philosopher. Abel Sánchez: The History of a Passion, Mist

Entered the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

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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
Wickham Steed   United Kingdom 10 October 1871 13 January 1956 historian, journalist. Hitler Whence and Whither?, The Meaning of Hitlerism
Sheila Kaye-Smith   United Kingdom 4 February 1887 14 January 1956 novelist. Joanna Godden, The End of the House of Alard
H. L. Mencken   United States 12 September 1880 29 January 1956 cultural critic, essayist, satirist. The American Language, The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche
A. A. Milne   United Kingdom 18 January 1882 31 January 1956 novelist, playwright, poet. Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner
Edmund Clerihew Bentley   United Kingdom 10 July 1875 30 March 1956 humorist, mystery novelist, poet. Trent's Last Case, Trent's Own Case
Arthur Talmage Abernethy   United States 10 October 1872 15 May 1956 poet, theologian. The Hell You Say!: A Novel, The Jew a Negro; Being a Study of the Jewish Ancestry from an Impartial Standpoint
Max Beerbohm   United Kingdom 24 August 1872 20 May 1956 caricaturist, humorist, novelist, parodist. Zuleika Dobson, The Happy Hypocrite
Ion Călugăru   Romania 14 February 1902 22 May 1956 novelist, short-story writer. Copilăria unui netrebnic (The Childhood of a Ne'er-do-well), Oțel și pîine (Steel and Bread)
Walter de la Mare   United Kingdom 25 April 1873 22 June 1956 children's writer, horror writer. Memoirs of a Midget, Collected Stories for Children
Nicos Nicolaides   Greece 3 April 1884 24 June 1956 dramatist, short-story writer, painter. To Stravoxylo (The Peevish Fellow), O Skelethras Diegimata B (The Skeleton Short Stories'. Book 2)
Gottfried Benn   Germany 2 May 1886 7 July 1956 essayist, poet. Morgue und andere Gedichte (Morgue and other Poems), Doppelleben (Double Life)
Giovanni Papini   Italy 9 January 1881 8 July 1956 novelist, short-story writer, philosopher. Gog, Il crepuscolo dei filosofi (The Twilight of the Philosophers)
Jackson Pollock   United States 28 January 1912 11 August 1956 Painter
Bertolt Brecht   Germany 10 February 1898 14 August 1956 playwright, poet. The Threepenny Opera, The Flight Across the Ocean
Michael Ventris   United Kingdom 12 July 1922 6 September 1956 classics scholar, philologist. Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Introducing the Minoan Language
A. L. Zissu   Romania 25 January 1888 6 September 1956 dramatist, essayist, novelist, polemicist. Nu există cult mozaic (No Such Thing as a Mosaic Religion), Calea Calvarului (The Path of Calvary)
Hans Carossa   Germany 15 December 1878 12 September 1956 novelist, poet. Stella Mystica, Ungleiche Welten (Unequal Worlds)
Pío Baroja   Spain 28 December 1872 30 October 1956 novelist. The Tree of Knowledge, Memorias de un Hombre de Acción (Memories of a Man of Action)
Pío Baroja   Spain 28 December 1872 30 October 1956 novelist. The Tree of Knowledge, Memorias de un Hombre de Acción (Memories of a Man of Action)
B. R. Ambedkar   India 14 April 1891 6 December 1956 economist, political writer, journal writer. Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development, The Buddha and His Dhamma
Arthur Grimble   United Kingdom 11 June 1888 13 December 1956 travel writer, memoirist. A Pattern of Islands, Return to the Islands
Robert Walser    Switzerland 15 April 1878 25 December 1956 novelist, poet, short-story writer. Jakob von Gunten, Der Gehülfe (The Assistant)

Entering the public domain in the United States

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In the United States, the copyright status of works extends for the life of the author or artists, plus 70 years.[3][4] If the work is owned by a corporation, then the copyright extends 95 years.[5]

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.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "EU Extends Copyright Term To 70 Years | Billboard". Billboard.biz. 2011-09-12. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  2. ^ Directive 2006/116/EC
  3. ^ "What Could Have Entered the Public Domain | Duke University School of Law".
  4. ^ "S.505 - One Hundred Fifth Congress of the United States of America at the Session Session. An act to amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, with respect to the duration of copyright, and for other purposes" (PDF). U.S. Copyright Office.
  5. ^ "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States | Copyright Information Center".
  6. ^ "United States Copyright Law". Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
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