January 10, 2019 The Public Domain: Celebrating the Lifecycle of Copyright

For the first time in 20 years, creative works entered the public domain in the United States on Jan. 1, 2019.  To mark this occasion, the United States Copyright Office will host the Copyright Matters event “The Public Domain: Celebrating the Lifecycle of Copyright” on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 10:30 a.m. in the historic Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C.

What:    “The Public Domain: Celebrating the Lifecycle of Copyright”

When:    Wednesday, Jan. 16
  10:30 a.m. – Noon
  Doors open at 10:00 a.m.

Where:  Coolidge Auditorium
 Library of Congress
 Thomas Jefferson Building
 10 First St. SE, Washington, D.C.

“The Public Domain: Celebrating the Lifecycle of Copyright,” part of the Copyright Matters event series, will focus on works entering the public domain in 2019 and how they can be used by creators. Three creators will present works they have made based on public domain works and will provide an overview of their creative process.

The featured speakers will be:

• Taina Caragol, curator of Latino art and history at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, and co-curator of the Gallery’s “UnSeen” exhibition.
• Nina Gilden Seavey, Emmy-award winning filmmaker, research professor of history and media and public affairs at George Washington University and director of the university’s Documentary Center.
• Ben West, director, performer and musical theater historian.

The Metropolitan School of the Arts Advanced Choir will also perform selections of material newly in the public domain. The eight students in this exclusive group are mostly music theater-focused, studying voice, dance, and theater in a conservatory style performance arts program. 

On Oct. 27, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the term of copyright in the United States an additional 20 years, making the term for most works to be the life of the author plus 70 years. Under the act, works made in 1923 or afterward that were still protected by copyright in 1998 would not enter the public domain in the United States until 2019 or later.

In January 2019, the first of the works affected by the 1998 act entered the public domain, making them free to reproduce, have derivative works made based upon them (translations, cover songs, adaptations), distribute, or publicly perform or display. The following is a small sample of the works entering the public domain in 2019:

Movies

• “The Ten Commandments,” directed by Cecil B. DeMille
• “The Pilgrim,” directed by Charlie Chaplin
• “Our Hospitality,” directed by Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone

Books

• “Tarzan and the Golden Lion” by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• “A Son at the Front” by Edith Wharton
• “The Inimitable Jeeves” and “Leave it to Psmith” by P.G. Wodehouse

Music

• “Yes! We Have No Bananas” words and music by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn
• “Who’s Sorry Now” words by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, music by Ted Snyder
• “London Calling!” (musical) by Noel Coward

Tickets are available for this free event but not required. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit this event ticketing site for more information and to secure your ticket. Entry is not guaranteed.

Please visit the event page to stay apprised of updated information about this program and speakers.