When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2002. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
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. [1] [2] The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2002.
Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L. Adams Beck | ![]() | 1862 | 3 January 1931 | fantasy writer, novelist, short story writer, biographer, esotericist | The Openers of The Gate and Other Stories of the Occult, The Splendour of Asia: The Story and Teaching of the Buddha, The Way of Power: Studies in the Occult, The Divine Lady: A Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton, The Thunderer: A Romance of Napoleon and Joséphine |
Henry Gauthier-Villars | ![]() | 8 August 1859 | 12 January 1931 | novelist, music critic, literary editor | Co-writer and editor of the novel series Claudine in collaboration with his wife Colette [3] , marketed a line of dolls based on the novels. |
Graça Aranha | ![]() | 21 June 1868 | 26 January 1931 | modernist writer, novelist, dramatist, essayist, diplomat, judge | Canaã, Malazarte, Estética da Vida (An Aesthetics of Life) |
Ida B. Wells | ![]() | 16 July 1862 | 25 March 1931 | investigative journalist, sociologist, educator | Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases, The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States, Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells |
Arnold Bennett | ![]() | 27 May 1867 | 27 March 1931 | novelist, short story writer, dramatist, diarist | Anna of the Five Towns , The Old Wives' Tale , The Clayhanger Family , Riceyman Steps |
André Michelin | ![]() | 16 January 1853 | 4 April 1931 | industrialist, engineer | Eponymous founder and publisher of the guide book series Michelin Guide [4] |
Kahlil Gibran | ![]() | 6 January 1883 | 10 April 1931 | poet, visual artist, philosopher | The Prophet , The Madman , The Earth Gods |
Nérée Beauchemin | ![]() | 20 February 1850 | 29 June 1931 | poet | Les Floraisons Matutinales (The Morning Blossoming), Patrie intime: Harmonies (Intimate Homeland: Harmonies) |
Harald Høffding | ![]() | 11 March 1843 | 2 July 1931 | philosopher, theologian, university professor | Søren Kierkegaard as Philosopher , Den nyere Filosofis Historie (History of Modern Philosophy), Psychology, the Problems of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion |
Vasile Cijevschi | ![]() | 17 October 1880 | 14 July 1931 | Orientalist, nationalist politician, polemicist, journalist | Founder and owner of the Russian-language newspaper Golos Kishinyova, editor of the regional Russian-language newspaper Nashe Slovo (Our Word), [5] wrote the short story Unei prietene (To a Lady Friend) |
Bertha McNamara | ![]() | 28 September 1853 | 1 August 1931 | labour activist, political writer, bookseller | Home Talk on Socialism, Commercialism and Distribution of the Nineteenth Century, Forgery and Workingmen's Homes, How to Become Rich Beyond the Dreams of Avarice, Shylock Exposed |
Delfín Chamorro | ![]() | 24 December 1863 | 15 August 1931 | language teacher, grammarian, poet | Grammar Castellana |
Frank Harris | ![]() | 14 February 1856 | 26 August 1931 | memoirist, novelist, short story writer, publisher, editor | My Life and Loves , The Bomb , The Man Shakespeare and his Tragic Life Story, The Veils of Isis, and Other Stories, Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions, My Reminiscences as a Cowboy |
Hall Caine | ![]() | 14 May 1853 | 31 August 1931 | novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet, critic, World War I-era propagandist | The Christian , She's All the World to Me: A Novel , The Manxman , The Master of Man: The Story of a Sin , The Woman of Knockaloe: A Parable |
Sue A. Sanders | ![]() | 25 March 1842 | 8 September 1931 | teacher, social leader, diarist | A journey to on and from the "golden shore" |
Matilda Cugler-Poni | ![]() | 2 April 1851 | 9 September 1931 | poet, short story writer, comedy writer | Unei tinere fete (To a Young Girl), Un tutor |
Jane Meade Welch | ![]() | 11 March 1854 | 30 September 1931 | historian, journalist | The War of 1812, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, The Territorial Development of the United States, The Marking of Historic Sites on the Niagara Frontier |
Ernst Didring | ![]() | 18 October 1868 | 13 October 1931 | naturalist writer, novelist, leader of the Swedish Red Cross | Malm (iron ore), Grålöga—Trilogin (former life in the Stockholm archipelago ), Världsspindeln (The World's Spider), Det mörkblå frimärket (The Dark Blue Stamp) |
Arthur Schnitzler | ![]() | 15 May 1862 | 21 October 1931 | Modernist writer, novelist, dramatist | Professor Bernhardi , Der Weg ins Freie (The Road into the Open), Reigen , Fräulein Else |
Lucas Malet | ![]() | 4 June 1852 | 27 October 1931 | novelist, short story writer, ghost story writer, fiction writer about sadomasochism | The Wages of Sin, The History of Sir Richard Calmady, Colonel Enderby's Wife, The Gateless Barrier |
Juan Zorrilla de San Martín | ![]() | 28 December 1855 | 3 November 1931 | poet | Tabaré , La leyenda patria (The Fatherland Legend), Himno al Arbol (Hymn to the Tree) |
Ole Edvart Rølvaag | ![]() | 22 April 1876 | 5 November 1931 | novelist | Giants in the Earth [6] , Peder Seier (Peder Victorious), Den Signede Dag (Their Father's God) |
Xu Zhimo | ![]() | 15 January 1897 | 19 November 1931 | poet, translator, founder of the literary society Crescent Moon Society | Zaibie Kangqiao (Taking Leave of Cambridge Again) |
Vachel Lindsay | ![]() | 10 November 1879 | 5 December 1931 | poet, illustrator, writer on film criticism | The Art of the Moving Picture, Rhymes To Be Traded For Bread, The Jazz Birds, The Congo, Every Soul A Circus |
Enrico Corradini | ![]() | 20 July 1865 | 10 December 1931 | novelist, dramatist, essayist, journalist, nationalist political writer | Il volere d'Italia (Italy's Desire), L'ora di Tripoli (Tripoli's Moment), La patria lontana (The Distant Fatherland), La guerra lontana (The Distant War), Julius Caesar: A Play in Five Acts |
Melvil Dewey | ![]() | 10 December 1851 | 26 December 1931 | librarian, educator, founder of the Columbia University School of Library Service | eponymous creator of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, founder and editor of the Library Journal , writer of Librarianship as a profession for college-bred women. An address delivered before the Association of collegiate alumnæ, on March 13, 1886, by Melvil Dewey and Statistics of libraries in the state of New York numbering over 300 volumes |
Alfred Perceval Graves | ![]() | 22 July 1846 | 27 December 1931 | poet, songwriter, folklorist, president of the Irish Literary Society | Father O'Flynn, Songs of Old Ireland, Irish Songs and Ballads, Irish Folk-Songs, Songs of Erin [7] |
Ieronim Yasinsky | ![]() | 30 April 1850 | 31 December 1931 | novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist, science fiction writer, children's writer | The Kiev Stories, Natashka, The Sleeping Beauty, Irinarkh Plutarkhov, The Old Friend, The Great Man, Under Satan's Cloak |
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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maila Talvio | ![]() | 17 October 1871 | 6 January 1951 | novelist, short story writer, dramatist, non-fiction writer on the temperance movement | Aili, Kaksi rakkautta, Kansan seassa, Pimeän pirtin hävitys | |
René Guénon | ![]() | 15 November 1886 | 7 January 1951 | writer on metaphysics, esotericist, Sufist | The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times , Introduction to the Study of the Hindu doctrines, Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta, The Symbolism of the Cross | |
Sinclair Lewis | ![]() | 7 February 1885 | 10 January 1951 | novelist, short-story writer, playwright. | Main Street , Babbitt , Arrowsmith , Elmer Gantry , Dodsworth , It Can't Happen Here | |
James Bridie | ![]() | 3 January 1888 | 29 January 1951 | playwright, screenwriter, physician. | A Sleeping Clergyman , Mary Read , Daphne Laureola , wrote the screenplays for the films The Paradine Case , Under Capricorn , and Stage Fright | |
Lloyd C. Douglas | ![]() | 27 August 1877 | 13 February 1951 | historical novelist, Lutheran and Congregationalist minister | The Robe , The Big Fisherman , Magnificent Obsession , Home for Christmas | |
Henri-René Lenormand | ![]() | 3 May 1882 | 16 February 1951 | playwright, popularized Freudian theories of psychoanalysis | La Grande Mort, Le Réveil de l'instinct, Les Ratés, Confessions d'un auter dramatique | |
André Gide | ![]() | 22 November 1869 | 19 February 1951 | Novelist, essayist, dramatist | The Immoralist , Strait Is the Gate , The Pastoral Symphony , The Counterfeiters , The Fruits of the Earth | |
Vsevolod Vishnevsky | ![]() | 21 December 1900 | 28 February 1951 | playwright, screenwriter, journalist, war correspondent | An Optimistic Tragedy , We Are from Kronstadt , Battle at West, By the Walls of Leningrad, We, Russian People | |
János Zsupánek | ![]() | 6 January 1861 | 11 March 1951 | poet, hymn writer | Magyar dalok (Hungarian Songs), Vu iméni Ocsé, i Sziná, i Dühá, szvétoga Ámen (In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen), Mrtvecsne peszmi (Dirges), Szenje blázsene device Marie (The Fair of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Novine) | |
Oscar Micheaux | ![]() | 2 January 1884 | 25 March 1951 | novelist, film director, independent film producer | The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer, The Forged Note, The Homesteader: A Novel, The Wind from Nowhere, Masquerade, a Historical Novel | |
Henrik Visnapuu | ![]() | 2 January 1890 | 3 April 1951 | playwright, Symbolist poet, school teacher, freelance journalist | Amores, Ad astra, Mare Balticum, Linnutee | |
Sadegh Hedayat | ![]() | 17 February 1903 | 9 April 1951 | Modernist writer, novelist, short story writer, satirist, poet, translator | The Blind Owl , The Stray Dog , The Benefits of Vegetarianism [8] , Three Drops of Blood | |
Henry de Vere Stacpoole | ![]() | 9 April 1863 | 12 April 1951 | romance novelist, memoirist, translator, conservation movement activist focusing on the protection of seabirds | The Blue Lagoon , The Garden of God , The Gates of Morning , The Beach of Dreams: A Story of the True World | |
Ludwig Wittgenstein | ![]() | 26 April 1889 | 29 April 1951 | philosopher, lexicographer | Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus , Some Remarks on Logical Form , Philosophical Investigations , Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough | |
Alphonse de Châteaubriant | ![]() | 25 March 1877 | 2 May 1951 | novelist, fascist and Nazist political writer | Monsieur des Lourdines , La Brière , ...Des saisons et des jours... Journal de l'auteur, 1911-1924, Fragments d'une confession – La sainteté | |
Paula von Preradović | ![]() | 12 October 1887 | 25 May 1951 | poet, lyricist, diarist | Land der Berge, Land am Strome (Land of the Peaks, Land by the Stream), Wiener Chronik, Die Versuchung des Columba, Pave und Pero | |
Hermann Broch | ![]() | 1 November 1886 | 30 May 1951 | Modernist writer, novelist, short story writer, non-fiction writer on mass psychology | The Sleepwalkers , The Death of Virgil [9] [10] , The Guiltless, The Spell | |
Håkon Evjenth | ![]() | 26 December 1894 | 10 June 1951 | short story writer, children's writer, jurist, ethnographer with research focused on the Sami culture | Folk under fot, 3 på to og 2 på fire, På to og fire i Suonjo, Over kjølen i kano, En fiskergutt i Sameland | |
W. C. Sellar | ![]() | 27 December 1898 | 11 June 1951 | humourist, history teacher, schoolmaster | 1066 and All That , And Now All This, Horse Nonsense, Garden Rubbish and other Country Bumps, contributor to the humour magazine Punch | |
William Randolph Hearst | ![]() | 29 April 1863 | 14 August 1951 | newspaper publisher, politician | eponymous founder of the media conglomerate Hearst Communications, co-founder of the print syndication company King Features Syndicate [11] , founder and owner of the animation studio International Film Service which produced animated adaptations of the comic strips Krazy Kat , The Katzenjammer Kids , And Her Name Was Maud , Happy Hooligan , Jerry on the Job , Bringing Up Father , Abie the Agent , and Judge Rummy . [12] |
In the United States, the copyright status of works extends for the life of the author or artists, plus 70 years. [13] [14] If the work is owned by a corporation, then the copyright extends 95 years. [15]
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. [16]