Millions of Books Are Secretly in the Public Domain
This is huge, especially because of the 20-year freeze that just thawed.<p>On Jan. 1, 2019, all books, movies, and music published in 1923 entered the public domain.  It was the first time since the 1990s that anything new entered the public domain, because Congress had extended the length of copyright protection.<p>If, as the article says, about 80 percent of books published between 1923 and 1964 are also in the public domain, then it's as if 40 years of creative works just came crashing through like a tidal wave to wipe out that 20-year draught!<p>And perhaps even more important than free access to the works themselves is the ability to adapt and transform these works without restriction.  Think about all of the characters from those books that can now become the stars of new stories!<p>One thing worth pointing out, however, is that the 80 percent of books that did not have their copyright terms renewed are likely to be books that were not commercially successful, so their authors or designees had no strong financial interest in keeping the copyright protected.  So don't expect to find many of the most famous works published during this period in the list.  Nevertheless, I would not be surprised if there are some true gems that, for whatever reason, did not have their copyright terms renewed, and I'm excited to try to find them!