When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2008. 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, 2008.

Names Country Birth Death Occupation Notable work
J. M. Barrie   United Kingdom 9 May 1860 19 June 1937 novelist, playwright. The Little White Bird, Peter and Wendy
Julian Bell   United Kingdom 4 February 1908 18 July 1937 poet, book editor. Winter Movement, Work for the Winter
Jean de Brunhoff   France 9 December 1899 16 October 1937 children's writer, illustrator. The Story of Babar, Babar and Father Christmas
Ellis Parker Butler   United States 5 December 1869 13 September 1937 short story writer, essayist. Pigs Is Pigs, Philo Gubb, The Correspondence School Detective
Ralph Connor   Canada 13 September 1860 31 October 1937 novelist. Black Rock, a Tale of the Selkirks, The Gay Crusader
Frederic Taber Cooper   United States 27 May 1864 20 May 1937 magazine editor, historian. Word formation in the Roman Sermo Plebeius. An historical study of the development of vocabulary in vulgar and late Latin, with special reference to the Romance languages, History of the Nineteenth Century in Caricature
John Drinkwater   United Kingdom 1 June 1882 25 March 1937 poet, dramatist. Abraham Lincoln, The Death of Leander
Florence Dugdale   United Kingdom 12 January 1879 17 October 1937 children's writer, biographer. The Book of Baby Birds, The Later Years of Thomas Hardy, 1892–1928
Edward Garnett   United Kingdom 5 January 1868 19 February 1937 writer, critic, literary editor. The Breaking Point, a Censured Play. With Preface and a Letter to the Censor, The great war in 1916, a neutral's indictment
Ivor Gurney   United Kingdom 28 August 1890 26 December 1937 poet, composer. Five Elizabethan Songs , The Western Playland
Elizabeth Haldane   United Kingdom 27 May 1862 24 December 1937 biographer, philosopher. From One Century to Another: The Reminiscences of Elizabeth S. Haldane, The Scotland of our Fathers: A Study of Scottish Life in the Nineteenth Century
W. F. Harvey   United Kingdom 14 April 1885 4 June 1937 horror fiction writer. August Heat, Midnight House and Other Tales
William F. Lloyd   Newfoundland 17 December 1864 13 June 1937 journalist, newspaper editor. editor of The Telegram
H. P. Lovecraft   United States 20 August 1890 15 March 1937 writer of weird fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction. The Call of Cthulhu, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
Don Marquis   United States 29 July 1878 29 December 1937 humorist, novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. The Dark Hours, archy and mehitabel
H. C. McNeile   United Kingdom 28 September 1888 14 August 1937 writer of thrillers and war stories. Bulldog Drummond, The Black Gang
Chūya Nakahara   Japan 29 April 1907 22 October 1937 poet, translator. Goat Songs, Songs of Bygone Days
Tomas O'Crohan   Republic of Ireland 21 December 1856 7 March 1937 diarist, memoirist. Island Cross-Talk, The Islandman
Horacio Quiroga   Uruguay 31 December 1878 19 February 1937 playwright, poet, short story writer. Stories of Love, Madness, and Death, Jungle Tales
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo   Madagascar 4 March 1901 22 June 1937 poet, novelist, opera writer, literary critic, journal editor. The Cup of Ashes, The Red Dawn
Albert Verwey   Netherlands 15 May 1865 8 March 1937 poet, translator, literary historian. Persephone
Edith Wharton   United States 24 January 1862 11 August 1937 novelist, short story writer. The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth

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
Sholem Asch   Poland 1 November 1880 10 July 1957 dramatist, essayist, novelist. In a Bad Time, God of Vengeance
Arturo Barea   Spain 20 September 1897 24 December 1957 autobiographer, radio broadcaster. The Forging of a Rebel, Struggle for the Spanish Soul
Roy Campbell   South Africa 2 October 1901 23 April 1957 literary critic, poet, satirist, translator. The Wayzgoose: A South African Satire, The Georgiad – A Satirical Fantasy in Verse
Joyce Cary   Ireland 7 December 1888 29 March 1957 poet, short story writer. Mister Johnson, The Horse's Mouth
A. E. Coppard   United Kingdom 4 January 1878 13 January 1957 poet, short story writer. Fearful Pleasures, Nixey's Harlequin
William Craigie   United Kingdom 13 August 1867 2 September 1957 lexicographer, philologist. editor for the Oxford English Dictionary, founding editor of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
Alfred Döblin   Germany 10 August 1878 26 June 1957 essayist, novelist. Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Three Leaps of Wang Lun
Lord Dunsany   Ireland 24 July 1878 25 October 1957 short story writer, playwright, novelist, poet. The King of Elfland's Daughter, The Gods of Pegāna
May Edginton   United Kingdom 20 December 1883 17 June 1957 novelist, playwright. Secrets, The Prude's Fall
Ernest Elmore   United Kingdom 4 November 1901 8 November 1957 crime novelist, fantasy writer. The Lake District Murder, The Cornish Coast Murder
Rose Fyleman   United Kingdom 6 March 1877 1 August 1957 children's writer, playwright, poet, translator. There are fairies at the bottom of our garden, Lift your hidden faces
Oliver St. John Gogarty   Ireland 17 August 1878 22 September 1957 playwright, oet. Blight, As I Was Going Down Sackville Street
Barbu Lăzăreanu   Romania 5 October 1881 19 January 1957 bibliographer, literary historian, satirist. Constantin Radovici, Agatha Bârsescu, Nora Marinescu, Slabs and Debris from Epidaurus' Temple
José Lins do Rego   Brazil 3 July 1901 12 September 1957 novelist. Menino de engenho (Plantation boy), Pureza
Malcolm Lowry   United Kingdom 28 July 1909 26 June 1957 novelist, poet. Under the Volcano, Ultramarine
Curzio Malaparte   Italy 9 June 1898 19 July 1957 filmmaker, war correspondent. Kaputt, The Skin
Mait Metsanurk   Estonia 19 November 1879 21 August 1957 novelist, short story writer, playwright. Ümera jõel (On the Ümera River), Uues korteris
Gabriela Mistral   Chile 7 April 1889 10 January 1957 poet. Sonetos de la Muerte (Sonnets of Death), Despair
Christopher Morley   United States 5 May 1890 28 March 1957 essayist, journalist, novelist, poet. Parnassus on Wheels, The Haunted Bookshop
Mulshankar Mulani   Gujarat 1 November 1867 14 December 1957 playwright. Saubhagya Sundari, Barrister
John Middleton Murry   United Kingdom 6 August 1889 12 March 1957 essayist, literary critic. God: An Introduction to the Science of Metabiology, Katherine Mansfield and Other Literary Portraits
Leo Perutz   Austria 2 November 1882 25 August 1957 horror novelist, mathematician. From Nine to Nine, The Master of the Day of Judgement
Rhoda Power   United Kingdom 29 May 1890 9 March 1957 children's writer, historical novelist. Redcap Runs Away, From the Fury of the Northmen: and Other Stories That Shaped Our Destiny in 18th to 19th Century England
Dorothy Richardson   United Kingdom 17 May 1873 17 June 1957 novelist, journalist. Pilgrimage, Pointed Roofs
Kenneth Roberts   United States 8 December 1885 21 July 1957 historical novelist. Northwest Passage, Lydia Bailey
Dorothy L. Sayers   United Kingdom 13 June 1893 17 December 1957 crime novelist, literary critic, playwright, poet, translator. The Nine Tailors, Whose Body?
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa   Italy 23 December 1896 23 July 1957 historical novelist. The Leopard, The Professor and the Siren
Stanley Vestal   United States 15 August 1887 25 December 1957 biographer, historian, novelist. Kit Carson, the Happy Warrior of the West, Sitting Bull-Champion of the Sioux-a Biography
Laura Ingalls Wilder   United States 7 February 1867 10 February 1957 novelist, journalist. Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie
Alfred Eckhard Zimmern   United Kingdom 26 January 1879 24 November 1957 classical scholar, historian, political scientist. The Greek Commonwealth: Politics and Economics in Fifth Century Athens, The Third British Empire

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 Second 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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