2027 in public domain

The works of Bertolt Brecht, of which he is the sole author, will enter the public domain in Europe in 2027.

When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of creators whose works enter the public domain in 2027. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years

With the exception of Belarus (Life + 50 years) and Spain (which has a copyright term of 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. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years. In addition several other countries in the world have a limit of 70 years. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Pietro Badoglio	Italy	28 September 1871	1 November 1956	General	La guerra d'Etiopia, L'Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale
Julien Benda	France	26 December 1867	7 June 1956	Writer	Bibliography
Émile Borel	France	7 January 1871	3 February 1956	Mathematician	Les probabilités denombrables et leurs applications arithmétiques
Bertold Brecht	Germany	10 February 1898	14 August 1956	Playwright	Mother Courage and Her Children
Ezio Camussi  [ it ]	Italy	16 January 1877	11 August 1956	Composer	Compositions
Francisco de Aquino Correia	Brazil	2 April 1885	22 March 1956	Writer
Alexander Gretchaninov	Russia	25 October 1864	3 January 1956	Composer	Selected works
Mohammed Hussein Heikal	Egypt	20 August 1888	8 December 1956	Novelist	Zeinab
Irène Joliot-Curie	France	12 September 1897	17 March 1956	Chemist
Aino Kallas	Finland,   Estonia	2 August 1878	9 November 1956	Writer	Sudenmorsian, The Pastor of Reigi, Barbara von Tisenhusen
Paul Léautaud	France	18 January 1872	22 February 1956	Writer	Works
Guido Leto	Italy	5 November 1895	1956	Politician	Publications
Évariste Lévi-Provençal	France	4 January 1894	27 March 1956	Orientalist	Histoire de l'Espagne musulmane
A. A. Milne	United Kingdom	18 January 1882	31 January 1956	Writer	Winnie-the-Pooh
Giovanni Papini	Italy	9 January 1881	8 July 1956	Writer	Publications
Alex Raymond	United States	2 October 1909	6 September 1956	Writer	Flash Gordon
Vida Ravenscroft Sutton	United States	1878	27 July 1956	Playwright	The Pilgrims' Holiday
Jackson Pollock	United States	28 January 1912	11 August 1956	Painter
Jacques Sadoul	France	22 May 1881	18 November 1956	Politician	Works
Gustav Suits	Estonia	30 November 1883	23 May 1956	Poet
Franz Tamayo	Bolivia	28 February 1879	29 July 1956	Writer, politician
Michael Ventris	United Kingdom	12 July 1922	6 September 1956	Classics scholar, philologist	Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Introducing the Minoan Language

Countries with life + 60 years

In Bangladesh, India, and Venezuela a work enters the public domain 60 years after the creator's death.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Ralph Allen	Canada	25 August 1913	2 December 1966	Writer, journalist	Peace River Country
Lauro Ayestarán	Uruguay	9 July 1913	22 July 1966	Musicologist	La música en el Uruguay
André Breton	France	19 February 1896	28 September 1966	Writer, poet	Surrealist Manifesto
Jan Brzechwa	Poland	15 August 1898	2 July 1966	Poet
Deems Taylor	United States	22 December 1885	3 July 1966	Composer, music critic
Walt Disney	United States	5 December 1901	15 December 1966	Filmmaker
C. S. Forester	United Kingdom	27 August 1899	2 April 1966	Writer	Horatio Hornblower , The African Queen , The General
Lloyd Garrett	United States	2 July 1886	15 April 1966	Tenor, composer
Alberto Giacometti	Switzerland	10 October 1901	11 January 1966	Sculptor, painter	The Palace at 4 a.m. , L'Homme au doigt , Grande tête mince , L'Homme qui marche I , Large Standing Woman I , Monumental Head
César Batlle Pacheco	Uruguay	3 August 1885	6 January 1966	Politician, Journalist
Olhinto María Simoes	Uruguay	5 June 1901	9 October 1966	Poet, journalist	La sombra de los plátanos
Cordwainer Smith	United States	11 July 1913	6 August 1966	Science fiction writer, professor, military officer	Psychological Warfare, Norstrilia , Scanners Live in Vain , Alpha Ralpha Boulevard , A Planet Named Shayol
Evelyn Waugh	United Kingdom	28 October 1903	10 April 1966	Writer	Vile Bodies , A Handful of Dust
Mohamed Fawzi	Egypt	15 August 1918	20 October 1966	Singer, Musician	Kassaman
Mohamed El Qasabgi	Egypt	1892	25 March 1966	Musician	Raq El Habib
Badie' Khayri	Egypt	17 August 1893	1 February 1966	Playwright	Hassan wa Murqus wa Cohen
Sayyid Qutb	Egypt	9 October 1906	29 August 1966	Writer	Ma'alim fi al-Tariq , Fi Zilal al-Quran

Countries with life + 50 years

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, 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
Zainul Abedin	Bangladesh	29 December 1914	28 May 1976	Painter	Famine Sketches
Delia Bennett	United States	1892	1976	Quilter
Benjamin Britten	United Kingdom	22 November 1913	4 December 1976	Composer	List of compositions by Benjamin Britten
Agatha Christie	United Kingdom	15 September 1890	12 January 1976	Author	Agatha Christie bibliography
Stuart Cloete	South Africa	23 July 1897	19 March 1976	Author	Turning Wheels
Daniel F. Galouye	United States	11 February 1920	7 September 1976	SF Author	Dark Universe
Munro Leaf	United States	4 December 1905	21 December 1976	Author	The Story of Ferdinand
Valero Lecha  [ es ]	El Salvador	4 March 1894	20 August 1976	Painter	Mercado al Aire Libre
André Malraux	France	3 November 1901	23 November 1976	Author	La Condition Humaine
Robert L. May	United States	27 July 1905	11 August 1976	Retailer	Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Edgar Pangborn	United States	25 February 1909	1 February 1976	SF Author	A Mirror for Observers
Thomas Burnett Swann	United States	12 October 1928	5 May 1976	SF Author, poet	The Minotaur Trilogy
Guillermo Tolentino	Philippines	24 July 1890	12 July 1976	Sculptor	Bonifacio Monument, UP Oblation
Valentin Vaala	Finland	13 October 1909	21 November 1976	Director, screenwriter	Ihmiset suviyössä
Tamara Vakhvakhishvili	Soviet Union	23 December 1893	31 October 1976	Composer	Works
Diego Valeri	Italy	25 January 1887	28 November 1976	Poet, critic
Mall Valk	Estonia	2 June 1935	12 October 1976	Ceramist	Works
Adam Vetulani	Poland	20 March 1901	25 September 1976	Historian	Works
Renata Viganò	Italy	17 June 1900	23 April 1976	Writer	L'Agnese va a morire
William G. Vinal	United States	29 November 1881	9 July 1976	Naturalist, educator
Nikolai Virta	Soviet Union	19 December 1906	3 January 1976	Writer	Odinochestvo
Luchino Visconti	Italy	2 November 1906	17 March 1976	Director, screenwriter	The Leopard
Mark Vishniak	Russian Empire   United States	2 January 1883	31 August 1976	Writer	Years of Emigration, 1919–1969
André-Léon Vivrel	France	8 October 1886	7 April 1976	Painter, illustrator
Kathe Volkart-Schlager	Austria	7 February 1897	1976	Composer
Vladimir Vranić	Croatia	10 November 1896	3 August 1976	Mathematician	Vjerojatnost i statistika
Clara Coltman Vyvyan	Australia	1885	1 March 1976	Travel writer	On Timeless Shores: Journeys in Ireland
Ernest Wallcousins	United Kingdom	21 July 1882	January 1976	Illustrator, painter	Illustrations for Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria
Martha Walter	United States	19 March 1875	January 1976	Impressionist painter	Motherhood
Oliver Warner	United Kingdom	28 February 1903	14 August 1976	Naval historian, writer	Works
Ned Washington	United States	15 August 1901	20 December 1976	Lyricist	Lyrics to "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Mark Hanna Watkins	United States	23 November 1903	24 February 1976	Linguist, anthropologist	A Grammar of Chichewa
Paul Weatherwax	United States	4 April 1888	18 October 1976	Botanist, botanical illustrator	Works
David L. Webster	United States	6 November 1888	17 December 1976	Physicist	Works
Isabelle Clark Percy West	United States	6 November 1882	25 August 1976	Painter, printmaker, designer
Judith Westphalen	Peru	2 June 1922	31 December 1976	Painter
Harvey Samuel Whistler	United States	7 September 1907	17 March 1976	Violinist, composer	"Introducing the Positions for Violin"
Marjorie Whitaker	United Kingdom	23 September 1895	7 January 1976	Author	Works
Minor White	United States	9 July 1908	24 June 1976	Photographer
Martin Wickramasinghe	Sri Lanka	29 May 1890	23 July 1976	Author	Gamperaliya
Dorothy Wilding	United Kingdom	10 January 1893	9 February 1976	Photographer	Portrait of Lady Angela Forbes
Clifton Williams	United States	26 March 1923	12 February 1976	Composer	Works
Clara McDonald Williamson	United States	20 November 1875	17 February 1976	Painter	Git 'Long Little Dogies
Cherry Wilson	United States	12 July 1893	November 1976	Novelist	Thunder Breaks
Fritz Winter	Germany	22 September 1905	1 October 1976	Painter	Earthbound
Józef Wittlin	United States	17 August 1896	28 February 1976	Novelist, poet, translator	Salt of the Earth
Marcel Wolfers	Belgium	1886	1976	Sculptor, medallist	Monument aux morts de la guerre, Louvain
Wilfrid Wood	United Kingdom	1 December 1888	18 February 1976	Engraver, watercolourist	By Underground to Kew
James Woodford	United Kingdom	25 September 1893	8 November 1976	Sculptor	Robin hood statue outside Nottingham Castle
Ellamarie Woolley	United States	1913	1976	Enamel artist, muralist	Women with Birds
Marjorie Muir Worthington	United States	1900	17 February 1976	Writer
Arthur Wragg	United Kingdom	3 January 1903	17 August 1976	Illustrator	Illustrations for The Psalms for Modern Life
Arthur F. Wright	United States	3 December 1913	11 August 1976	Historian	The Sui Dynasty
Horace Kenton Wright	Bahamas	21 February 1915	14 November 1976	Artist
Margaret Wrightson	United Kingdom	1877	1976	Sculptor	Works
Satyu Yamaguti	Japan	21 April 1894	11 March 1976	Parasitologist	Synopsis of digenetic trematodes of vertebrates
Yashpal	India	3 December 1903	26 December 1976	Writer	Jhutha Sach
Yirawala	Aboriginal Australia	1897	17 April 1976	Artist
Mihal Zallari	Albania	25 September 1894	17 March 1976	Historian, journalist, poet
Joaquín Zamacois	Chile	14 December 1894	8 September 1976	Composer, author
Anna Zinkeisen	Scotland	29 August 1901	23 September 1976	Artist	Portrait of Archibald McIndoe
Khayr al-Dīn al-Ziriklī	Syria	25 June 1893	25 November 1976	Poet, biographer	al-Aʻlām
Adolph Zukor	United States	7 January 1873	10 June 1976	Filmmaker
Jacek Żuławski	Poland	29 March 1907	27 November 1976	Sculptor
Alberto Zum Felde	Uruguay	30 May 1889	6 May 1976	Historian, essayist

Countries with life + 80 years

See also: Works that entered the public domain in countries with life + 70 years in 2017

Spain has a copyright term of life + 80 years for creators that died before 1987. In Colombia and Equatorial Guinea, a work enters the public domain 80 years after the creator's death.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
Giuseppe Adami	Italy	4 February 1878	12 October 1946	librettist	Libretti for three operas composed by Giacomo Puccini
Eriks Ādamsons	Latvia	22 June 1907	28 February 1946	writer, poet, translator
Armando Augusto Freire (Armandinho)	Portugal	11 October 1891	21 December 1946	Fado guitarist and composer
Louis Bachelier	France	11 March 1870	28 April 1946	Mathematician
Herbert Baker	United Kingdom	9 June 1862	4 February 1946	Architect
Helen Bannerman	United Kingdom	25 February 1862	3 October 1946	Writer	The Story of Little Black Sambo
Granville Bantock	United Kingdom	7 August 1868	16 October 1946	composer
James Bernard	United Kingdom	11 April 1874	5 March 1946	Elocutionist
Allan Cyril Brooks	Canada	15 February 1869	3 January 1946	Ornithologist, illustrator and artist
Alfonso Broqua  [ es ]	Uruguay	15 February 1869	24 November 1946	Composer
Charles Despiau	France	4 November 1874	30 October 1946	Sculptor
J. Michael Diack	United Kingdom	26 June 1869	2 February 1946	Composer, arranger	Arranged nursery rhymes in the style of Handel
Manuel de Falla	Spain	23 November 1876	14 November 1946	Composer	Nights in the Gardens of Spain , Ritual Fire Dance
W. C. Fields	United States	29 January 1880	25 December 1946	Writer
Jane Findlater	United Kingdom	4 November 1866	20 May 1946	Writer
Dion Fortune	United Kingdom	6 December 1890	6 January 1946	Writer and occultist	The Demon Lover, The Winged Bull, The Goat-Foot God, The Sea Priestess
Wanda Gág	United States	11 March 1893	27 June 1946	Children's book author, artist, translator and illustrator	Millions of Cats
Gerhart Hauptmann	Germany	15 November 1862	6 June 1946	Writer, Nobel Prize laureate	The Weavers , Bahnwärter Thiel (De)
Patty Hill	United States	27 March 1868	25 May 1946	Songwriter	Happy Birthday to You (with sister Mildred J. Hill, who predeceased her)
Violet Jacob	United Kingdom	1 September 1863	9 September 1946	Writer and poet
John Maynard Keynes	United Kingdom	5 June 1883	21 April 1946	Economist	A Treatise on Money
Hermann von Keyserling	Germany	20 July 1880	26 April 1946	Philosopher
Otis Adelbert Kline	United States	1 July 1891	24 October 1946	Literary agent and science fiction writer
Paul Langevin	France	21 January 1872	19 December 1946	Physicist
Henri Le Fauconnier	France	1881	1946	Painter
Józef Mehoffer	Poland	19 March 1869	8 July 1946	Painter and decorative artist
Adolph de Meyer	France	9 January 1868	6 January 1946	Photographer
László Moholy-Nagy	Hungary	20 July 1895	24 November 1946	Painter and photographer	Light-Space Modulator
Paul Nash	United Kingdom	11 May 1889	11 July 1946	Painter/photographer
Mikhail Nesterov	Russia	31 May 1862	18 October 1942 [1]	Painter
Feliks Nowowiejski	Poland	7 February 1877	18 January 1946	Composer	Rota (music)
Clemente Palma	Peru	3 December 1872	13 August 1946	Author
Júlio Prestes	Brazil	15 March 1882	9 February 1946	Politician
Damon Runyon	United States	4 October 1880	10 December 1946	Writer and newspaperman
Abel Salazar (scientist)	Portugal	19 July 1889	29 December 1946	Scientist and Painter
Alice Sauvrezis	France	4 April 1866	12 April 1946	Composer
Ernest Thompson Seton	United Kingdom	14 August 1860	23 October 1946	Writer and wildlife artist	Wild Animals I Have Known
May Sinclair	United Kingdom	24 August 1863	14 November 1946	Writer
Václav Špála	Czech Republic	24 August 1885	13 May 1946	Painter
Léon Spilliaert	Belgium	28 July 1881	23 November 1946	Painter
Gertrude Stein	United States	3 February 1874	27 July 1946	Writer	The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas , Three Lives
Karl Hans Strobl	Czech Republic	18 January 1877	10 March 1946	Author and editor
Harry Von Tilzer	United States	8 July 1872	10 January 1946	Songwriter	Ziegfeld Follies
Frona Eunice Wait	United States	19 August 1859	1946	Author and newspaper writer	Wines and Vines of California
George Henry Weiss	United States	1898	1946	Writer of science fiction and poetry	The Night People
H. G. Wells	United Kingdom	21 September 1866	13 August 1946	Writer	The Time Machine , The War of the Worlds , The Invisible Man
Stewart Edward White	United States	12 March 1873	18 September 1946	Writer and spiritualist
Cornel Simanjuntak	Indonesia	1921	15 September 1946	Songwriter	Maju Tak Gentar, Sorak-Sorak Bergembira, Bungaku, Indonesia Tetap Merdeka, Ku Pinta Lagi, Maju Indonesia
Alfred Rosenberg	Germany	12 January 1893	16 October 1946	Politician, writer	The Myth of the Twentieth Century
Paul Zech	Germany	19 February 1881	7 September 1946	Poet	Die lasterhaften Balladen und Lieder des François Villon
Heinrich Freiherr von Stackelberg	Germany	31 October 1905	12 October 1946	Economist	Marktform und Gleichgewicht

United States

See also: Public domain in the United States

Notable works entering the public domain in the United States in 2027 include Universal Pictures' Frankenstein and Dracula films

Under the Copyright Term Extension Act, books published in 1931, films released in 1931, and other works published in 1931, will enter the public domain in 2027 if they were made for hire as defined in American copyright law. ^{[2] [3]} Sound recordings that were published in 1926 and unpublished works whose authors died in 1956 will also enter the public domain. The Disney animated short The Moose Hunt , featuring the first named appearance of Pluto, enters the public domain. Universal Pictures' Frankenstein and Dracula adaptations will be among the works to enter the public domain. In addition, the character Dick Tracy will enter the public domain.

Other significant films entering the public domain include Charlie Chaplin's City Lights , 1931 Best Picture Oscar-winner Cimarron , Gangster films Little Caesar and The Public Enemy , the Marx Brothers film Monkey Business , Laurel and Hardy's first feature film Pardon Us , Fritz Lang's serial killer drama M , Josef von Sternberg's Dishonored starring Marlene Dietrich, Michael Powell's directorial debut Two Crowded Hours , Otto Preminger's directorial debut The Great Love , F. W. Murnau's final film Tabu: A Story of the South Seas , the John Ford films Arrowsmith and The Brat , the Alfred Hitchcock films The Skin Game , Mary and Rich and Strange , G. W. Pabst's The Threepenny Opera , Mário Peixoto's Limite , Dave Fleischer's Bimbo's Initiation , the first Canadian sound film The Viking , the first Soviet sound film Road to Life , the first Japanese sound film The Neighbor's Wife and Mine , the first Bollywood-musical Alam Ara (now believed lost) and the first Chinese sound film Sing-Song Girl Red Peony .

Artworks entering the public domain include Salvador Dali's painting The Persistence of Memory , Georgia O'Keeffe's painting Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue , Grant Wood's painting The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere , Thomas Hart Benton's painting America Today , Paul Landowski's sculpture Christ the Redeemer, Pablo Picasso's sculpture Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) , Man Ray's Électricité -photo series, August Sander's photograph Secretary at West German Radio, Cologne and M.C. Escher's early print Atrani, Coast of Amalfi .

Important literary works entering the public domain include Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth , Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves , Lynn Riggs' play Green Grows the Lilacs , Erich Maria Remarque's novel The Road Back , Winston Churchill's final volume of The World Crisis , Walter B. Gibson's pulp novel The Living Shadow introducing The Shadow, Georges Simenon's novel The Strange Case of Peter the Lett (containing the first introduction of inspector Inspector Jules Maigret) in its original French, Hergé's Tintin in the Congo in its original French black-and-white version, and Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar in its original French.

Among the better-known songs entering the public domain are "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", "As Time Goes By" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me".

See also

• List of American films of 1931
• 1931 in literature
• 1931 in music
• 1956 in literature and 1976 in literature for deaths of writers
• Public Domain Day
• Creative Commons
• 2028 in public domain

References

1. Copyright term in Russia is extended by 4 years for authors who fought in or worked during the 1941-1945 war.
2. "Copyright and the Public Domain". Public Domain Information Project. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01.
3. "Copyright Basics" (PDF). copyright.gov. Copyright Office. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

External links

• Media related to Undelete in 2027 at Wikimedia Commons
• "Authors by Year of Death – 1956". AuthorAndBookInfo.com.
• Popular Books of 1931 at Goodreads