On January 1, 2024, many people (including myself), celebrate Public Domain Day. What, exactly, is this special event? It’s the day when copyrighted works (including books, poems, movies) from 1928 become available for public use. Also included are sound recordings from 1923. The great thing about Public Domain day is that all sorts of creative material is now freed up for artists to share, adapt, and teach from. Here is a link to the Catalog of Copyrighted Entries managed by the U.S. Copyright Office. And this year, some of the works include books that were once banned for political, moral, obscenity, and/or war trauma reasons including All Quiet on the Western Front and Lady Chatterly’s Lover.
Below I’ve only included a brief selection of books, films, musical compositions, and sound recordings (from 1923) that are now in the Public Domain. For more information, I encourage you to check out the Catalog of Copyrighted Entries. And here is a brief description of last year’s list.
A Selection of 1928 Books in the Public Domain:
- D.H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
- Virginia Woolf, Orlando
- Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front {Original German version titled “Im Westen nichts Neues“}
- W.E.B. Du Bois, Dark Princess
- Claude McKay, Home to Harlem
- A. A. Milne, illustrations by E. H. Shepard, House at Pooh Corner
- J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up {Barrie’s novel “Peter and Wendy”, published in 1911, has been in the public domain since 1967. But the play version wasn’t technically “published” (for copyright purposes) until 1928.}
- Radclyffe Hall, The Well of Loneliness
- Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall
- Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train
- Wanda Gág, Millions of Cats (This is the oldest American children’s picture book still in print)
- Robert Frost, West-Running Brook
A Selection of 1928 Films in the Public Domain:
- Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy {Silent version, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks}
- The Cameraman {Directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton}
- Lights of New York {The first ‘all-talking’ picture directed by Bryan Foy}
- The Circus {Directed by Charlie Chaplin}
- The Passion of Joan of Arc {Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer}
- The Singing Fool {Sequel to The Jazz Singer, directed by Lloyd Bacon}
- Speedy {Directed by Ted Wilde. This was Harold Lloyd’s last silent theatrical release}
- In Old Arizona {One of the first talking films featuring singing cowboys}
- The Man Who Laughs {Directed by Paul Leni. This story supposedly has a character who inspired the appearance of the Joker from Batman}
- Should Married Men Go Home? {Directed by Leo McCarey and James Parrott. This is a Laurel and Hardy film}
- The Last Command {Directed by Josef von Sternberg. The actor Emil Jannings won the first Academy Award “Oscar” for Best Actor}
- Street Angel {Directed by Frank Borzage. The actress Janet Gaynor won the first Academy Award “Oscar” for Best Actress}
A Selection of 1928 Musical Compositions in the Public Domain:
- Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) {Cole Porter. This song is from the musical Paris}
- Sonny Boy {George Gard DeSylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson This song is from the film The Singing Fool starring Al Jolson}
- When You’re Smiling {Lyrics by Mark Fisher and Joe Goodwin and music by Larry Shay}
- I Wanna Be Loved By You {Lyrics by Bert Kalmar and music by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby. This song is from the musical Good Boy}
- Makin’ Whoopee! {Lyrics by Gus Khan and music by Walter Donaldson}
- I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby {Lyrics by Dorothy Fields and music by James Francis}
- Ramona {Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert and music by Mabel Wayne}
A Selection of 1923 Sound Recordings in the Public Domain:
It’s not easy finding and listening to old recordings. But one great source is the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The Library of Congress has made all of the 1923 (and earlier) recordings in its collection available for download. All recordings from 1924 and forward are streaming only until they enter in the Public Domain.
- Charleston {Recorded by James P. Johnson}
- Yes! We Have No Bananas {Recorded by Billy Jones; Furman and Nash; Eddie Cantor; Belle Baker; The Lanin Orchestra}
- Who’s Sorry Now {Recorded by Lewis James; The Happy Six; The Original Memphis Five}
- Down Hearted Blues {Recorded by Bessie Smith; Tennessee Ten}
- Lawdy, Lawdy Blues {Recorded by Ida Cox}
- Southern Blues and Moonshine Blues {Recorded by Ma Rainey}
- Down South Blues {Recorded by Hannah Sylvester; The Virginians}
- Tin Roof Blues {Recorded by The Original Memphis Five}
- That American Boy of Mine and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers {Recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra}
- Dipper Mouth Blues and Froggie More {Recorded by King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, featuring Louis Armstrong}
- Swingin’ Down the Lane {Recorded by the Isham Jones Orchestra; The Shannon Four; The Columbians}
