2018 in 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 2018. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 70 years[edit]

With the exception of Belarus and Spain (which is Life + 80 for creators who 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, 2018. For previously unpublished material, those who publish it first will have the publication rights for 25 years.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
James Agate	United Kingdom	9 September 1877	6 June 1947	Writer, critic	Ego
Tilly Aston	Australia	11 December 1873	1 November 1947	Educator, writer
Joseph Barcroft	United Kingdom	26 July 1872	21 March 1947	Physiologist	The Respiratory Function of the Blood
W. Augustus Barratt	United States	3 June 1873	12 April 1947	Composer	Sir Patrick Spens
Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes	United Kingdom	5 August 1868	14 November 1947	Novelist	The Lodger
J. D. Beresford	United Kingdom	17 March 1873	1 February 1947	Science fiction and horror author	The Hampdenshire Wonder
Augustin Bernard [fr]	France	26 August 1865	29 December 1947	Geographer	Les Confins algéro-marocains
Tristan Bernard	France	7 September 1866	7 December 1947	Playwright	Mémoires d'un jeune homme rangé
Jean-Richard Bloch	France	25 May 1884	15 March 1947	Writer
Luigi Bonelli^[it]	Italy	20 September 1865	26 January 1947	Orientalist	Lessico italiano-turco
Pierre Bonnard	France	3 October 1867	23 January 1947	Painter, printmaker
Wolfgang Borchert	Germany	20 May 1921	20 November 1947	Playwright	Draußen vor der Tür
Angela Brazil	United Kingdom	30 November 1868	13 March 1947	Children's books author
Óscar Castro Zúñiga	Chile	29 March 1910	1 October 1947	Writer	Llampo de Sangre, Camino en el alba, Comarca del jazmín
Willa Cather	United States	7 December 1873	24 April 1947	Writer	My Ántonia
Dmitry Censor^[ru]	Russia	22 December 1877	26 December 1947	Poet
George Chatterton-Hill	Ireland	1883	12 January 1947	Philosopher	Heredity and Selection in Sociology
Édouard Chatton	France	11 October 1883	23 April 1947	Biologist
Winston Churchill	United States	10 November 1871	12 March 1947	Novelist	The Celebrity
Ananda Coomaraswamy	United States	22 August 1877	9 September 1947	historian, philosopher	The Dance of Shiva
Aleister Crowley	United Kingdom	12 October 1875	1 December 1947	Poet	Bibliography
Franz Cumont	Belgium	3 January 1868	20 August 1947	archeologist	Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra
Petras Cvirka	Lithuania	12 March 1909	2 May 1947	Author	Frank Kruk
Josef Čapek	Czech	23 March 1887	April 1945^[3]	Painter, writer	All About Doggie and Pussycat
Anton Denikin	Russia	16 December 1872	8 August 1947	Soldier, writer	Russian Turmoil
Walter Donaldson	United States	15 February 1893	15 July 1947	Songwriter	Makin' Whoopee, Yes Sir, That's My Baby
Hans Fallada	Germany	21 July 1893	5 February 1947	Writer	Der junge Goedeschal, Little Man, What Now?
Irving Fisher	United States	27 February 1867	29 April 1947	Economist	The Purchasing Power of Money
Desmond FitzGerald	Ireland	13 February 1888	9 April 1947	Architect
Henry Ford	United States	30 July 1863	7 April 1947	Business magnate	The International Jew
John Ulrich Giesy	United States	6 August 1877	8 September 1947	Writer, physician	Palos of the Dog Star Pack
Victor Goldschmidt	Norway	27 January 1888	20 March 1947	Mineralogist	Geochemische Verteilungsgesetze der Elemente
Reynaldo Hahn	France	9 August 1874	28 January 1947	Composer	Ciboulette
G. H. Hardy	United Kingdom	7 February 1877	1 December 1947	Mathematician	A Mathematician's Apology
Frank Heller	Sweden	20 July 1886	14 October 1947	Writer	The London Adventures of Mr. Collin
Frederick Gowland Hopkins	United Kingdom	20 June 1861	16 May 1947	Biochemist	Feeding experiments illustrating the importance of accessory factors in normal dietaries
Blanche Hoschedé Monet	France	10 November 1865	8 December 1947	Painter
Victor Horta	Belgium	1 June 1861	9 August 1947	Architect
Albert Howard	United Kingdom	8 December 1873	20 October 1947	Botanist	An Agricultural Testament
Ricarda Huch	Germany	18 July 1864	17 November 1947	Author	The Deruga Case
Stanislav Hudeček [cs]	Czech Republic	26 March 1872	15 April 1947	Painter and illustrator
E.M. Hull	United Kingdom	16 August 1880	11 February 1947	Novelist	The Sheik
Pierre Janet	France	30 May 1859	24 February 1947	Psychologist	La médecine psychologique
Afevork Ghevre Jesus	Ethiopia	10 July 1868	25 September 1947	Writer	Ləbb Wälläd Tarik
Elizabeth Jordan	United States	9 May 1865	24 February 1947	Journalist, suffragist, author
Pyotr Krasnov	Russia	22 September 1869	17 January 1947	Soldier, writer	From Double Eagle To the Red Flag
Karel Langer [cs]	Czech Republic	16 January 1878	2 May 1947	Painter
Richard Le Gallienne	United Kingdom	20 January 1866	15 September 1947	author, poet
C. Louis Leipoldt	South Africa	28 December 1880	12 April 1947	Poet
Philipp Lenard	Germany	7 June 1862	20 May 1947	Physicist	Quantitative on cathode rays
Friedrich von Lerch [de]	Austria	30 May 1878	19 December 1947	Physicist	Separation of radium C from radium E
Hugh Lofting	United Kingdom	14 January 1886	26 September 1947	Writer	Doctor Dolittle series
Ernst Lubitsch	Germany	28 January 1892	30 November 1947	Director
Manuel Machado	Spain	29 August 1874	19 January 1947	Poet and playwright	La Lola se va a los puertos
Arthur Machen	United Kingdom	3 March 1863	15 December 1947	Fantasy and horror author	The Great God Pan, The Three Impostors, The Hill of Dreams, The White People
Karl Mannheim	United Kingdom	27 March 1893	9 January 1947	Sociologist	Ideology and Utopia
Henri Manuel	France	24 April 1874	11 September 1947	Photographer
William Moulton Marston	United States	9 May 1893	2 May 1947	Psychologist, inventor, comic book writer	Wonder Woman, DISC assessment
Anatole de Monzie	France	22 November 1876	11 January 1947	Encyclopaedist	Grandeur et servitude judiciaires
Yone Noguchi	Japan	8 December 1875	13 July 1947	Writer	The American Diary of a Japanese Girl
Emma Orczy	United Kingdom	23 September 1865	12 November 1947	Novelist, Playwright	The Scarlet Pimpernel
P. D. Ouspensky	Russia	5 March 1878	2 October 1947	Mathematician, esotericist
Friedrich Paschen	Germany	22 January 1865	25 February 1947	Physicist	Ueber die zum Funkenübergang in Luft, Wasserstoff und Kohlensäure bei verschiedenen Drucken erforderliche Potentialdifferenz
John Henry Patterson	United Kingdom	10 November 1867	18 June 1947	Soldier, hunter, author	The Man-Eaters of Tsavo
Reginald Payne	United Kingdom	7 June 1909	20 December 1947	Illustrator	The Railway Series
Júlio Afrânio Peixoto	Brazil	17 December 1876	12 January 1947	Writer
Max Planck	Germany	23 April 1858	4 October 1947	Scientist
R. I. Pocock	United Kingdom	4 March 1863	9 August 1947	Zoologist	The Fauna of British India
Carl Adolph Preyer	United States	28 July 1863	16 November 1947	Composer	Festal Polonaise, Op.14
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz	Switzerland	24 September 1878	23 May 1947	Author	Beauty on Earth
Forrest Reid	United Kingdom	24 June 1875	4 January 1947	Novelist	Young Tom
Nicholas Roerich	Russia India	9 October 1874	13 December 1947	Painter, writer
Borys Romanowski^[ka]	Georgia	1879	1947	Polish painter active in Georgia
Margaret Marshall Saunders	Canada	13 May 1861	15 February 1947	Writer
Johannes Schubert^{[ar; de]}.	Austria	11 June 1859	29 September 1947	Physicist
Emil Schovánek	Czech Republic	10 September 1885	11 July 1947	Painter
Kathleen Scott	United Kingdom	27 March 1878	25 July 1947	Sculptor
Victor Serge	Belgium	30 December 1890	17 November 1947	Marxist revolutionary, writer	From Lenin to Stalin, Destiny of a Revolution
M. P. Shiel	Montserrat	21 July 1865	17 February 1947	Horror and science fiction author	The Purple Cloud, The Yellow Danger
Andrei Shkuro	Russia	19 January 1887	17 January 1947	Soldier, memoirist
Alfred Walter Stewart	United Kingdom	September 1880	1 July 1947	Chemist, Writer	Nordenholt's Million
Alan Sullivan	Canada	29 November 1868	6 August 1947	Writer	The Great Divide
Flora Thompson	United Kingdom	5 December 1876	21 May 1947	Novelist, poet	Lark Rise to Candleford
Mstislav Tsyavlovsky^[ru]	Russia Soviet Union	26 June 1883	11 November 1947	Literary scholar
Jim Tully	United States	3 June 1886	22 June 1947	Writer	Beggars of Life
Marcel Varnel	France	16 October 1892	13 July 1947	Film Director
E. C. Vivian	United Kingdom	19 October 1882	21 May 1947	Writer, editor	Fields of Sleep
Sidney Webb	United Kingdom	13 July 1859	13 October 1947
Alfred North Whitehead	United Kingdom	15 February 1861	30 December 1947	Mathematician	Process and Reality
Anna Wickham	United Kingdom	1883	30 April 1947	Poet	Songs of John Oland
Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman	Belgium	19 October 1866	24 July 1947	Botanist
Almroth Wright	United Kingdom	10 August 1861	30 April 1947	Bacteriologist	The Unexpurgated Case against Woman Suffrage
Riichi Yokomitsu	Japan	17 March 1898	30 December 1947	Writer
Eduard von Zambaur [de]	Austria	11 May 1866	10 October 1947	Orientalist	Die Münzprägungen des Islams

Entering the public domain in countries with life + 50 years[edit]

In most countries of Africa and Asia, as well as Belarus, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand and Uruguay; a work enters the public domain 50 years after the creator's death.

Names	Country	Birth	Death	Occupation	Notable work
J.R. Ackerley	United Kingdom	4 November 1896	4 June 1967	Writer, editor	My Dog Tulip, We Think the World of You
Ciro Alegría	Peru	9 November 1909	17 February 1967	Journalist, novelist	El mundo es ancho y ajeno
Gordon Allport	United States	11 November 1897	9 October 1967	psychologist	Becoming: Basic Considerations for a Psychology of Personality
Norman Angell	United Kingdom	26 December 1872	7 October 1967	journalist, author, politician	The Great Illusion
Tudor Arghezi	Romania	21 May 1880	14 July 1967	poet, novelist, essayist	Cuvinte Potrivite, Zdreanță
Marcel Aymé	France	29 March 1902	14 October 1967	Novelist, children's writer, playwright	The passer-through-walls
Margaret Ayer Barnes	United States	8 April 1886	25 October 1967	playwright, novelist, short-story writer	Years of Grace
Vladimir Bartol	Slovenia	24 February 1903	12 September 1967	Writer	Alamut
John Coltrane	United States	23 September 1926	17 July 1967	Saxophonist, composer	Giant Steps
Isaac Deutscher	United Kingdom	3 April 1907	19 August 1967	Biographer	Stalin: a Political Biography
Julien Duvivier	France	8 October 1896	29 October 1967	film director, screenwriter	Sous le ciel de Paris
Ilya Ehrenburg	Russia	27 January 1891	31 August 1967	writer, journalist, translator	Black Book, The Thaw
Sidney Bradshaw Fay	United States	13 April 1876	29 August 1967	Historian	The Origins of the World War
Varian Fry	United States	15 October 1907	13 September 1967	Journalist	The Peace that Failed, Surrender on Demand
Che Guevara	Argentina	14 June 1928	9 October 1967	Communist revolutionary, author	Guerrilla Warfare
Robert van Gulik	Netherlands	9 August 1910	24 September 1967	writer, diplomat, translator	The Chinese Maze Murders
Woody Guthrie	United States	14 July 1912	3 October 1967	singer-songwriter	This Land Is Your Land
Edward Hopper	United States	22 July 1882	15 May 1967	Painter	Nighthawks
Langston Hughes	United States	1 February 1902	22 May 1967	Writer	The Weary Blues
Lajos Kassák	Hungary	21 March 1887	22 July 1967	Poet, writer, painter
Margaret Kennedy	United Kingdom	23 April 1896	31 July 1967	Novelist, playwright	The Constant Nymph, Troy Chimneys
Joseph Kesselring	United States	21 July 1902	5 November 1967	playwright	Arsenic and Old Lace
Zoltán Kodály	Hungary	16 December 1882	6 March 1967	Composer, philosopher, ethnomusicologist	Psalmus Hungaricus
Wolfgang Köhler	Germany	21 January 1887	11 June 1967	Psychologist	The Mentality of Apes, Gestalt Psychology
Josefina Lerena Acevedo de Blixen [es]	Uruguay	13 February 1889	12 November 1967	Writer, journalist	Reyles
Douglas MacLean	United States	10 January 1890	9 July 1967	actor, writer	Mama Loves Papa
René Magritte	Belgium	21 November 1898	15 August 1967	Painter	The Difficult Crossing, The Treachery of Images
John Masefield	United Kingdom	1 June 1878	12 May 1967	Poet, novelist	The Everlasting Mercy, Sea-Fever
André Maurois	France	26 July 1885	9 October 1967	author	The Silence of Colonel Bramble
Carson McCullers	United States	19 February 1917	29 September 1967	Novelist, playwright, poet	The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding
Edgar Neville	Spain	28 December 1899	23 April 1967	playwright, film director
J. Robert Oppenheimer	United States	22 April 1904	18 February 1967	Physicist, professor
Joe Orton	United Kingdom	1 January 1933	9 August 1967	Playwright	The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr Sloane
Dorothy Parker	United States	22 August 1893	7 June 1967	Writer	Enough Rope
Violeta Parra	Chile	4 October 1917	5 February 1967	Composer, songwriter	Gracias a la Vida
Arthur Ransome	United Kingdom	18 January 1884	3 June 1967	Writer, journalist	Swallows and Amazons series
Otis Redding	United States	9 November 1941	10 December 1967	Singer, songwriter	Respect
Elmer Rice	United States	28 September 1892	8 May 1967	playwright	The Adding Machine, Street Scene
Gerhard Ritter	Germany	6 April 1888	1 July 1967	Historian	Luther: Gestalt und Symbol
José Martínez Ruiz	Spain	8 June 1873	2 March 1967	Novelist, essayist, literary critic	La ruta de Don Quijote, La voluntad, Antonio Azorín
Carl Sandburg	United States	6 January 1878	22 July 1967	Poet, writer, journalist	Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, Chicago Poems
Siegfried Sassoon	United Kingdom	8 September 1886	1 September 1967	poet, soldier, writer	Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
Philippa Schuyler	United States	2 August 1931	9 May 1967	Journalist, pianist	Adventures in Black and White
Walter Terence Stace	United Kingdom	17 November 1886	2 August 1967	Philosopher, academic,	Mysticism and Philosophy
Billy Strayhorn	United States	29 November 1915	31 May 1967	Composer, lyricist	Take the "A" Train, Lush Life
Jean Toomer	United States	26 December 1894	30 March 1967	Poet, novelist	Cane
Pavlo Tychyna	Ukraine	23 January 1891	16 September 1967	poet, statesman,
Paul Whiteman	United States	28 March 1890	29 December 1967	Bandleader, composer	Flamin' Mamie
Ossip Zadkine	France	4 July 1890	25 November 1967	Artist	The Destroyed City
Wolfgang Zeller	Germany	12 September 1893	11 January 1967	Composer
João Guimarães Rosa	Brazil	27 June 1908	19 November 1967	Writer	Sagarana

Entering the public domain in Australia[edit]

In 2004 copyright in Australia changed from a "plus 50" law to a "plus 70" law, in line with America and the European Union. But the change was not made retroactive (unlike the 1995 change in the European Union which bought some e.g. British authors back into copyright, especially those who died from 1925 to 1944). Hence the work of an author who died before 1955 is normally in the public domain in Australia; but the copyright of authors was extended to 70 years after death for those who died in 1955 or later, and no more Australian authors will come out of copyright until 1 January 2026 (those who died in 1955).

Entering the public domain in the United States[edit]

The Copyright Term Extension Act means no published works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019.^[4] Only unpublished works whose authors died in 1947 enter the public domain.

On January 26, 2018, Ludlow Music, the music publisher for We Shall Overcome, agreed in a legal settlement that the song is in the public domain.^[5]

On February 27, 2018, the video game One Hour One Life was released into the public domain.^[6]

References[edit]

^ "EU Extends Copyright Term To 70 Years | Billboard". Billboard.biz. 2011-09-12. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
^ Directive 2006/116/EC
^ Josef Čapek's remains were never found. In 1948 the court officially set the date of his death, the day which he did not survive being 30 April 1947.
^ "Copyright and the Public Domain". Public Domain Information Project. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
^ Gardner, Eriq. "Song Publisher Agrees "We Shall Overcome" Is in Public Domain in Legal Settlement". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
^ Rohrer, Jason (17 March 2019). no_copyright.txt. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

External links[edit]

"Authors by Year of Death - 1947". AuthorAndBookInfo.com.

[1] "EU Extends Copyright Term To 70 Years | Billboard". Billboard.biz. 2011-09-12. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2014-01-07.

[EU-2] Directive 2006/116/EC

[3] Josef Čapek's remains were never found. In 1948 the court officially set the date of his death, the day which he did not survive being 30 April 1947.

[4] "Copyright and the Public Domain". Public Domain Information Project. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2015-12-13.

[5] Gardner, Eriq. "Song Publisher Agrees "We Shall Overcome" Is in Public Domain in Legal Settlement". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 January 2018.

[6] Rohrer, Jason (17 March 2019). no_copyright.txt. Retrieved 30 December 2019.

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