Debussy wanted to distance himself from what he considered the emotional excess of the Romantics and instead wanted to write music that, through sound, created an ambience similar to that of the Impressionist painters and Symbolist poets of his day.
All books initially copyrighted in the US from 1964 through 1977 have had their copyrights automatically renewed (by law) and the copyrights are still in force. The initial copyright term was 28 years; the renewal was for 67 more years.
Copyright law originated in the United Kingdom from a concept of common law; the Statute of Anne 1709. It became statutory with the passing of the Copyright Act 1911. The current act is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.