For the first time since 1997, the coming of a new year has introduced an entire library of culture into the public domain in the U.S. Public Domain Days used to be an annual event until 1998, when a new law named after Sonny Bono suddenly extended copyright protections by 20 years. Now, under U.S. law, a song, book or movie doesnt lose its copyright protections for 95 years, or until the creator has been dead for 70 years. (Canadas laws are a bit different, but, as explained below, that may soon change.)
Thus, Jan. 1 was effectively the first time in the age of the modern internet that a massive batch of books, music and movies became free for all. Thousands of new public domain works, all produced in 1923, have been extensively…
Read the full article at: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/free-stuff-all-of-these-songs-book-and-movies-just-hit-the-public-domain-on-jan-1