Happy new year to you all. I sincerely hope 2021 is better than 2020 (unless you’re Jeff Bezos).
Today is Public Domain Day again and that means copyrighted works from the US from 1925 are open to all. (For more information on it, we wrote about it in 2019.) The official Public Domain Day 2021 page explains why this year is so good:
In 2021, there is a lot to celebrate. 1925 brought us some incredible culture. The Harlem Renaissance was in full swing. The New Yorker magazine was founded. The literature reflected both a booming economy, whose fruits were unevenly distributed, and the lingering upheaval and tragedy of World War I. The culture of the time reflected all of those contradictory tendencies. The BBC’s Culture website suggested that 1925 might be “the greatest year for books ever,” and with good reason. It is not simply the vast array of famous titles. The stylistic innovations produced by books such as Gatsby, or The Trial, or Mrs. Dalloway marked a change in both the tone and the substance of our literary culture, a broadening of the range of possibilities available to writers, while characters such as Jay Gatsby, Hemingway’s Nick Adams, and Clarissa Dalloway still resonate today.
Below you will find a list of applicable works from 1925. Always remember to check works from any years prior to 1925 to make absolutely sure you follow any licence requirements (if there are any). And below the list is a Disney cartoon from 1925 not featuring Mickey Mouse.
A list of lists of public domain works from 1925
- Public Domain Day 2021 (Duke University School of Law)
- ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Songs by Ma Rainey and Other Classic Works Will Enter the Public Domain in 2021
- 2021 in public domain
- Party Like It’s 1925 On Public Domain Day (Gatsby And Dalloway Are In)
- Great Gatsby, Agatha Christie and more: Famous works from 1925 enter public domain
