Public Domain Day 2012

Hurray for access! January 1st was Public Domain Day.  On that day, unpublished works by authors who died prior to 1942 became part of the public domain in the United States. This includes works by notable authors such as:

• Robert Baden-Powell (Founder of the Scout Movement)
• Frederick Banting (Canadian medical scientist, one of the main discoverers of insulin)
• Frank Bridge (English composer and violist)
• James Frazer (Scottish social anthropologist)
• James Joyce (Irish novelist and poet)
• Hugh Walpole (English novelist)
• Wilhelm II (The last German Emperor)
• Virginia Woolf (English author, essayist, and publisher)

 A more complete list can be seen here.  Lists of authors whose works entered the public domain in 2011 or 2010 are also available.

However there are some conditions around the entrance of works into the public domain.  This legislation only applies to works which have not been previously published and which were not made during parts of employment.  Separate copyright legislation applies to those works.