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On January 1, 2019, works published in 1923 entered the public domain.
This is the first time in 20 years that new works -- such as texts,books, articles, art works, films, and music -- have entered the public domain!
What is the public domain and why was there a 20-year freeze?
Works that are in the public domain have no copyright restrictions. They may have once been protected by copyright, but the term of copyright has expired. In 1998, Congress extended the term of copyright in the United States by 20 years, which was retroactive to existing copyrighted works and led to a 20-year freeze on new works entering the public domain.
The public domain now consists of works published in 1923 or earlier.
Anyone can freely copy, share, translate, and remix these works without having to ask permission. From now on, each year will bring new works into the public domain -- 1924 works in 2020, 1925 works in 2021, and so forth.
The books listed below are available at URI. Some of the items are available only in University Archives and Special Collections.
- Through the Wheat byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3503 O895 T4Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/throughwheat00boyd
- The High Place byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3505 A153 H5 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/highplacecomedyo0000cabe
- A Lost Lady byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3505 A87 L6 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/lostlady00wsc
- The World Crisis byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks D521 C52 1927Publication Date: 1927Available online at https://archive.org/details/worldcrisis00chur
- Tulips & Chimneys byCall Number: Carothers Library Poetry Collection - Non Circulating PS3505 U334 T8 1924Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/tulipschimneys00eecu
- New Hampshire byCall Number: Carothers Library Poetry Collection - Non Circulating PS3511 R94 N4 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000888807
- The Prophet byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3513.I25 P7 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58585
- Tappan's Burro and Other Stories byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3513 R6545 T3Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/tappansburroo00grey1923
- Antic Hay byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6015 U9 A84 1923bPublication Date: 1923Available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4091145
- On the Margin: Notes and Essays byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6015 U9 O5 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015025358196
- Kangaroo byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6023 A93 K3 1950Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/kangaroo00lawruoft
- The Dove's Nest byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6025 A57 D6Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/dovesnestotherst00mans
- Poems byCall Number: Carothers Library Millay Collection - Non Circulating PS3525 I495 P6 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/poemsmil00milluoft
- Rootabaga Pigeons byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3537 A618 R66Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020809052
- Many Marriages byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3501 N4 M2Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/manymarriages00andeuoft
- A Son at the Front byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PS3545 H16 S5Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/sonatfront00whar
- Jacob's Room byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6045 O72 J3 1923Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/jacobsroom00wooluoft
- The Inimitable Jeeves byCall Number: Carothers Library Stacks PR6045.O53 I5Publication Date: 1923Available online at https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.509243
Display of books that have entered the public domain as of 2019.
H.P. Lovecraft in the Public Domain
Did you know that Providence’s own H.P. Lovecraft published four original stories in 1923?
- “The Horror at Martin’s Beach” in Weird Tales, vol. 2, no. 4
- “Hypnos” in The National Amateur, vol. 45, no. 5
- “The Lurking Fear” in Home Brew, vol. 2, no. 6 & vol. 3, no. 3
- “What the Moon Brings” in The National Amateur, vol. 45, no. 5
There is some question about whether copyrights for Lovecraft’s works were renewed under the terms of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allowed an extension of copyright renewal for works published before January 1, 1978.
Either way, the four stories above are certainly in the public domain now!
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse and Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf
A reprint of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Pigeons
Curated by Karen Walton Morse, Julia Lovett, and Amanda Izenstark, April 2019. Created with assistance from Jay Forcello '21.