Social:2009 in public domain

Short description: Overview of works entering public domain

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2009. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entered the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

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. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2009.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Lascelles Abercrombie	United Kingdom	1881	1938	literary critic, poet.	An Essay Towards a Theory of Art, Poetry, Its Music and Meaning
Karel Čapek	Czech Republic	1890	1938	science fiction writer, playwright	R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), War with the Newts
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay	India	1876	1938	short story writer, novelist.	Parineeta, Devdas
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo Júnior	Brazil	1860	1938	educator, poet and historian	Works
Émile Cohl	France	1857	1938	Caricaturist, cartoonist and animator
Gabriele D'Annunzio	Italy	1863	1938	novelist, playwright, poet.	Il Piacere (Pleasure), The Intruder, Il trionfo della morte (Triumph of Death)
Ovid Densusianu	Romania	1873	1938	folklorist, linguist, literary historian, philologist, poet.	Istoria literaturii române, Histoire de la langue roumaine
Paola Drigo	Italy	1876	1938	short story writer, novelist.	Fine d'anno, Maria Zef
James Forbes	Canada	1871	1938	playwright, screenwriter.	The Chorus Lady, The Famous Mrs. Fair
Robert Herrick	United States	1868	1938	novelist.	Web of Life
James Weldon Johnson	United States	1876	1938	anthologist, novelist, poet.	"Lift Every Voice and Sing", The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Willem Kloos	Netherlands	1859	1938	literary critic, poet.	editor of De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide)
E. V. Lucas	United Kingdom	1868	1938	biographer, essayist, humorist, novelist, playwright, poet, short story writer.	What a Life!
Osip Mandelstam	Russia	1891	1938	poet.	Puteshestviye v Armeniyu (Journey to Armenia), Razgovor o Dante (Conversation about Dante)
Georges Méliès	France	1861	1938	Film director	A Trip to the Moon, The Impossible Voyage, The Merry Frolics of Satan and The Conquest of the Pole
Migjeni	Albania	1911	1938	poet.	Trajtat e Mbinjeriut (The shape of the Superman), Kanga skandaloze (Scandalous song)
Lady Ottoline Morrell	United Kingdom	1873	1938	memoirist, patron of the arts.	two volumes of memoirs
Momčilo Nastasijević	Serbia	1894	1938	dramatist, novelist, poet.	The Unevoked, Master Mladen's Daughter
Henry Newbolt	United Kingdom	1862	1938	historian, novelist, poet.	Vitaï Lampada (the torch of life), Drake's Drum
Branislav Nušić	Serbia	1864	1938	playwright, essayist, novelist.	A Member of the Parliament, A Suspicious Person
Gustave Le Rouge	France	1867	1938	Author	The Vampires of Mars
Olivia Shakespear	United Kingdom	1863	1938	novelist, playwright, patron of the arts.	Love on a Mortal Lease, Uncle Hilary
Konstantin Stanislavski	Russia	1863	1938	acting theorist.	My Life in Art
E. G. Swain	United Kingdom	1861	1938	Author	The Stoneground Ghost Tales
Armando Palacio Valdés	Spain	1853	1938	novelist.	The Joy of Captain Ribot
Owen Wister	United States	1860	1938	biographer, historian, Western fiction writer	The Virginian, Ulysses S. Grant, Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship
Thomas Wolfe	United States	1900	1938	short story writer, novelist	Look Homeward, Angel, You Can't Go Home Again

Entered the public domain in countries with life + 50 years

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
Eleanor Hallowell Abbott	United States	1872	1958	novelist, poet, short story writer.	Molly Make-Believe, But Once A Year: Christmas Stories
James Branch Cabell	United States	1879	1958	fantasy writer.	Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice, Biography of the Life of Manuel
E. Everett Evans	United States	1893	1958	Science fiction author
Margiad Evans	United Kingdom	1909	1958	illustrator, novelist, poet.	Country Dance, Autobiography, A Ray of Darkness, The Nightingale Silenced
Dorothy Canfield Fisher	United States	1879	1958	literary critic, memoirist, novelist, short story writer, translator.	Understood Betsy
Marjorie Flack	United States	1897	1958	children's writer, illustrator.	writer of The Story About Ping, illustrator of The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes
Angelina Weld Grimké	United States	1880	1958	playwright, poet.	Rachel
Michael Joseph	United Kingdom	1897	1958	Writer, publisher.	How to Write Serial Fiction, Puss in Books: A collection of stories about cats, The Sword in the Scabbard
Cyril M. Kornbluth	United States	1923	1958	science fiction writer	The Little Black Bag, The Marching Morons
Henry Kuttner	United States	1915	1958	Writer of fantasy, horror fiction, and science fiction.	The Graveyard Rats, Mimsy Were the Borogoves
Rose Macaulay	United Kingdom	1881	1958	biographer, novelist, travel writer.	The World My Wilderness, The Towers of Trebizond
Johnston McCulley	United States	1883	1958	Author	Zorro
G. E. Moore	United Kingdom	1873	1958	journal editor, philosopher.	Principia Ethica, A Defence of Common Sense
Charles Langbridge Morgan	United Kingdom	1894	1958	novelist, playwright.	The Burning Glass
Alfred Noyes	United Kingdom	1880	1958	playwright, poet, short story writer.	The Highwayman, Shakespeare's Kingdom
Seumas O'Sullivan	Ireland	1879	1958	magazine editor, poet.	Twilight People, Verses Sacred and Profane
Elliot Paul	United States	1891	1958	journalist, novelist, screenwriter.	Life and Death of a Spanish Town, Linden on the Saugus Branch
Nicolae Petrescu-Comnen	Romania	1881	1958	social scientist.	Accidente profesionale (Work-related Accidents), Câteva considerațiuni asupra socialismului și asupra roadelor sale (Some Musings on Socialism and Its Results
Peig Sayers	Ireland	1873	1958	seanchaí (traditional Gaelic storyteller and historian) .	Peig, Machnamh Seanmhná (An Old Woman's Reflections)
Robert W. Service	Canada	1874	1958	poet.	The Shooting of Dan McGrew, The Cremation of Sam McGee
J. C. Squire	United Kingdom	1884	1958	historian, literary critic, magazine editor, poet.	Robin Hood: a farcical romantic pastoral , Shakespeare as a Dramatist
Ethel Turner	Australia	1870	1958	children's writer, novelist.	Seven Little Australians
Geoffrey Willans	United Kingdom	1911	1958	children's writer, humorist, novelist, screenwriter.	Down with Skool! A Guide to School Life for Tiny Pupils and their Parents, Whizz for Atomms: A Guide to Survival in the 20th Century for Fellow Pupils, their Doting Maters, Pompous Paters and Any Others who are Interested

Entering the public domain in the United States

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

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.

See also

• 1938 in literature and 1958 in literature for deaths of writers
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons

External links

• Public Domain Day 2009: Freeing the libraries
• HAPPY PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY - JANUARY 1, 2009 - NEW ADDITIONS TO UNPUBLISHED PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE U.S.

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