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Public Domain Day

| Allison

Each January 1st new works enter the public domain. In 2022, works originally registered or published in 1926 become public domain. Works published during that time, that met all required formalities, enjoyed a maximum term of copyright protection of 95 years.

Public domain works are free of copyright. This means they may be freely copied, adapted, distributed, performed and displayed, without permission from a rightsholder.

Selected Public Domain Works

Literature:

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Soldiers’ Pay by William Faulkner

My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather

Films:

For Heaven’s Sake

Battling Butler

The Son of the Sheik

The Temptress

Faust

Sound Recordings:

Maple Leaf Rag performed by Vess L. Ossman

Some of These Days performed by Sophie Tucker

Jelly Roll Blues performed by The Norfolk Jazz Quartette

Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ performed by Harry Lauder

My Man performed by Fanny Brice

Copyright and Accessibility

| Allison

Copyright and accessibility is a complicated topic. Many institutions of higher education have legal and moral obligations to provide all students and researchers with an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from access to materials. But there is no formal exception in copyright law written for accessibility.  Cell phone screen with icon for accessibility in the center

The law defines accessibility as the ability for people with disabilities to access information resources using technology effectively and efficiently. The principles of accessibility require materials to follow the acronym POUR: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Digital accessibility is making information and services such as documents, websites and web applications, mobile and desktop applications, and audio/video files usable to the widest audience as possible.  

One exception that users can often rely on is Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits the circumvention of technological protection measures placed on a work. The law provides exemptions to the anti-circumvention rule that are examined every three years, including some for accessibility.  

Fair use is one of the most common exceptions used for accessibility. Examples such as adding captions to an audiovisual work or reproducing text to make it accessible or useable by a screen-reader, are common use cases that rely on fair use. While fair use can significantly strengthen a fair use argument, it is only one factor, and does not automatically make something a fair use.