Some of the best known works of 20th-century literature will enter the public domain on Wednesday, meaning they will be free for anyone to adapt or publish.
Jan. 1 is Public Domain Day, when many books copyrighted in 1929 will become fair game for anyone to share or refashion. The Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School has a list of some of the most famous works that will be up for grabs.
Among the books scheduled to be set free from copyright restrictions are Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own and William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, both considered foundational texts of 20th-century literature. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms will also enter the public domain.
John Steinbeck’s first novel, Cup of Gold, loses its copyright, as do Richard Hughes’ A High Wind in Jamaica, Oliver La Farge’s Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story, and Robert Graves’ Good-bye to All That.
Other books entering the public domain include Patrick Hamilton’s Rope, Walter Lippmann’s A Preface to Morals, and E. B. White and James Thurber’s Is Sex Necessary? Or, Why You Feel the Way You Do.
It’s not just books that will become fair game on Wednesday. Movie fans can look forward to several more Mickey Mouse animations entering the public domain, alongside Alfred Hitchock’s Blackmail and Harry A. Pollard’s Show Boat. And if you love music, feel free to have at “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and—if you’re feeling spicy—Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
