2016 in public domain
When a work's copyright expires, it enters the public domain. The following is a list of works that entered the public domain in 2016. Since laws vary globally, the copyright status of some works are not uniform.
Authors entering the public domain
[edit]Authors entering the public domain 70 years after death
[edit]With the exception of Belarus and Spain, a work enters the public domain in Europe and Brazil 70 years after the creator's death, if it was published during the creator's lifetime. The list is sorted alphabetically and includes a notable work of the creator that entered the public domain on January 1, 2016.[1][2]
| Names | Country | Birth | Death | Occupation | Notable work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Achmed Abdullah |  United States
|
12 May 1881 | 12 May 1945 | Pulp writer and screenwriter | |
| Nikola Avramov |  Bulgaria
|
21 May 1897 | 15 June 1945 | Still life paintings | |
| Milena Pavlović-Barili |  Serbia
|
5 November 1909 | 6 March 1945 | Painter, poet | |
| Maurice Baring |  United Kingdom
|
27 April 1874 | 14 December 1945 | Writer | |
| Béla Bartók |  Hungary
|
25 March 1881 | 26 September 1945 | Composer | Concerto for Orchestra |
| Robert Benchley | United States
|
15 September 1889 | 21 November 1945 | Humorist | newspaper and magazine columns |
| Henry Bellamann | United States
|
28 April 1882 | 16 June 1945 | Writer | Kings Row |
| Ursula Bethell |  New Zealand
|
6 October 1874 | 15 January 1945 | Poet | Collected poetry |
| Vilhelms Bokslafs |  Latvia  Russian Empire
|
12 October 1858 | 9 March 1945 | Architect | Most notable buildings are Jaunmokas Manor near Tukums and Commercial school in Riga (now Art Academy of Latvia) |
| Nicola Bombacci |  Italy
|
24 October 1879 | 28 April 1945 | Marxist-Fascist journalist | Il mio pensiero sul bolscevismo (1941), I contadini nella Russia di Stalin (1942), I contadini nell'Italia di Mussolini (1943) |
| Dietrich Bonhoeffer |  Germany
|
4 February 1906 | 9 April 1945 | Theologian | |
| Robert Brasillach |  France
|
31 March 1909 | 6 February 1945 | Writer | Je suis partout |
| Miles J. Breuer | United States
|
3 January 1889 | 14 October 1945 | Writer | "The Gostak and the Doshes" (1930) and other science fiction stories |
| Fritz Brupbacher |  Switzerland
|
30 June 1874 | 1 January 1945 | Writer | Der Sinn des Lebens |
| Thomas Burke | United Kingdom
|
29 November 1886 | 22 November 1945 | Writer | Limehouse Nights |
| Alexander Stirling Calder | United States
|
11 January 1870 | 7 January 1945 | Sculptor | George Washington as President |
| David Young Cameron | United Kingdom
|
28 June 1865 | 16 September 1945 | Artist | |
| Franklin Carmichael |  Canada
|
5 May 1890 | 24 October 1945 | Artist | |
| Anica Černej |  Slovenia
|
3 April 1900 | 3 May 1945 | Author, poet | |
| Benjamin De Casseres | United States
|
3 April 1873 | 7 December 1945 | Journalist, poet | The Shadow-Eater |
| Margaret Deland | United States
|
23 February 1856 | 13 January 1945 | Writer | John Ward, Preacher |
| Mário de Andrade |  Brazil
|
9 October 1893 | 25 February 1945 | Writer | Macunaíma |
| Robert Desnos | France
|
4 July 1900 | 8 June 1945 | Poet | |
| Maurice Donnay | France
|
12 October 1859 | 31 March 1945 | Dramatist | |
| Lord Alfred Douglas | United Kingdom
|
12 June 1859 | 20 March 1945 | Writer | Two Loves |
| Theodore Dreiser | United States
|
27 August 1871 | 28 December 1945 | Writer, journalist | Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy |
| E. R. Eddison | United Kingdom
|
24 November 1882 | 18 August 1945 | Writer | The Worm Ouroboros |
| Gus Edwards | United States
|
18 August 1879 | 7 November 1945 | Songwriter | "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", "In My Merry Oldsmobile" |
| Eleanor Fortescue-Brigdale | United Kingdom
|
1871 | 10 March 1945 | Artist | The Uninvited Guest, Riches |
| Anne Frank | Germany
|
12 June 1929 | February 1945 | Diarist | The Diary of a Young Girl |
| Øvre Richter Frich |  Norway
|
24 March 1872 | 13 May 1945 | Writer, journalist | |
| Zinaida Gippius | Russia
|
20 November 1869 | 9 September 1945 | Writer, poet | |
| Adolf Hitler | Germany
|
20 April 1889 | 30 April 1945 | Politician, Dictator of Nazi Germany | Mein Kampf, Zweites Buch |
| Suphi Nuri İleri |  Turkey
|
1887 | 1945 | Writer | |
| Ljubomir Ivanović | Serbia
|
24 February 1882 | 23 November 1945 | Printmaker, draughtsman | |
| Malcolm Jameson | United States
|
21 December 1891 | 16 April 1945 | Writer | Writer for American pulp magazines during the Golden Age of Science Fiction |
| Joseph Jastrow | United States
|
30 January 1863 | 8 January 1945 | Psychologist | |
| Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski |  Poland
|
24 February 1885 | 8 August 1945 | Writer, journalist | |
| Osman Cemal Kaygılı | Turkey
|
4 October 1879 | 9 January 1945 | Writer | |
| Carl Wilhelm Kern | United States
|
4 June 1874 | 19 August 1945 | Composer | |
| Käthe Kollwitz | Germany
|
8 July 1867 | 22 April 1945 | Artist | The Prisoners |
| Julius Korngold |  Austria
|
24 December 1860 | 25 September 1945 | Music critic | |
| Jaroslav Kratochvil |  Czech Republic
|
17 January 1885 | 20 March 1945 | Writer | |
| René Lalique | France
|
6 April 1860 | 1 May 1945 | Glass designer | |
| Else Lasker-Schüler | Germany
|
11 February 1869 | 22 January 1945 | Writer | poetry and plays |
| James Leatham[3] | United Kingdom
|
19 December 1865 | 14 December 1945 | Writer, printer, publisher | |
| Jonas Lie | Norway
|
31 December 1899 | 11 May 1945 | Writer, minister | |
| David Lindsay | United Kingdom
|
3 March 1876 | 16 July 1945 | Writer | A Voyage to Arcturus |
| Eoin MacNeill |  Ireland
|
15 May 1867 | 15 October 1945 | Writer | Phases of Irish History |
| Tobias Matthay | United Kingdom
|
19 February 1858 | 15 December 1945 | Teacher, pianist, composer | writings on piano playing |
| Arthur Mendel |  Romania
|
1872 | 1945 | Painter | |
| Régis Messac | France
|
2 August 1893 | 1945 | Writer, poet, translator | |
| James V. Monaco | United States
|
13 January 1885 | 16 October 1945 | Songwriter | "You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)" |
| Arthur Morrison | United Kingdom
|
1 November 1863 | 4 December 1945 | Writer | A Child of the Jago |
| Benito Mussolini | Italy
|
29 July 1883 | 28 April 1945 | Politician | My Autobiography |
| Moritz Nähr | Austria
|
4 August 1859 | 29 June 1945 | Photographer | |
| Alla Nazimova | United States
|
3 June 1879 | 13 July 1945 | Writer, actor | |
| Dobri Nemirov | Bulgaria
|
3 February 1882 | 30 September 1945 | Writer | When I was young |
| Otto Neurath | Austria
|
10 December 1882 | 22 December 1945 | Writer | Anti-Spengler |
| Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen |  Denmark
|
21 June 1863 | 21 February 1945 | Sculptor | Equestrian Statue of King Christian IX, Copenhagen |
| Charles Gilman Norris | United States
|
23 April 1881 | 25 July 1945 | Writer, playwright | Salt (1919) |
| George S. Patton | United States
|
11 November 1885 | 21 December 1945 | General | War As I Knew it |
| Harry Pease | United States
|
6 September 1886 | 8 November 1944 | Songwriter | |
| Calel Perechodnik | Poland
|
8 September 1916 | September 1945 | Diarist | |
| Ion Pillat | Romania
|
31 March 1891 | 17 April 1945 | Poet | Pe Argeș în sus, Poeme într-un vers |
| Karel Poláček | Czech Republic
|
22 March 1892 | 21 January 1945 | Writer | |
| Vilhelms Purvītis | Latvia Russian Empire
|
3 March 1872 | 14 January 1945 | Landscape painter and educator | |
| Ernö Rapée | United States
|
4 June 1891 | 26 June 1945 | Composer | silent film music |
| Edward Prosser Rhys | United Kingdom
|
4 March 1901 | 6 February 1945 | Writer | Cerddi Prosser Rhys |
| Albert Richards | United Kingdom
|
19 December 1919 | 5 March 1945 | Artist | Artwork produced during the Second World War about the British war effort |
| Alexander Roda Roda | Austria
|
13 April 1872 | 20 August 1945 | Writer | |
| Hando Ruus |  Estonia
|
16 May 1917 | 31 March 1945 | Military captain, artist | |
| Felix Salten | Austria
|
6 September 1869 | 8 October 1945 | Writer | Bambi. Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde |
| Alexander Siloti |  Ukraine
|
9 October 1863 | 8 December 1945 | Pianist, composer | |
| Kārlis Skalbe | Latvia Russian Empire
|
7 November 1879 | 14 April 1945 | Writer, poet, and activist | |
| Paul Smărăndescu | Romania
|
26 June 1881 | 12 January 1945 | Architect | |
| Antal Szerb | Hungary
|
1 May 1901 | 27 January 1945 | Writer | The Pendragon Legend |
| Ong Schan Tchow |  China
|
19 September 1900 | 20 December 1945 | Artist | Book of Chrysanthemums |
| Nikolai Tcherepnin | Russia
|
15 May 1873 | 26 June 1945 | Composer | |
| Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy | Russia
|
15 May 1873 | 26 June 1945 | Writer | Aelita, The Garin Death Ray, The Road to Calvary |
| Teodor Trayanov | Bulgaria
|
30 January 1882 | 15 January 1945 | Poet | Song of songs, Regina Mortua, Hymns and Ballads |
| Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil | Turkey
|
1866 | 27 March 1945 | Writer | |
| Anton Webern | Austria
|
3 December 1883 | 15 September 1945 | Composer | |
| Franz Werfel | Austria
|
10 September 1890 | 26 August 1945 | Writer | The Song of Bernadette |
| Charles Williams | United Kingdom
|
20 September 1886 | 15 May 1945 | Writer | Descent into Hell |
| John R. Commons | United States
|
13 October 1862 | 11 May 1945 | Economist | Institutional Economics |
| August Lösch | Germany
|
15 October 1906 | 30 May 1945 | Economist | Die räumliche Ordnung der Wirtschaft |
| David Lloyd George | United Kingdom
|
17 January 1863 | 26 March 1945 | Politician | The Truth About The Peace Treaty, War Memoirs |
| Joseph Goebbels | Germany
|
29 October 1897 | 1 May 1945 | Politician | Goebbels Diaries |
Entering the public domain in the United States
[edit]The Copyright Term Extension Act means no published works would enter the public domain in this jurisdiction until 2019.[4] Only unpublished works whose authors died in 1945 enter the public domain.
On January 16th 2016, a judge decided that a selfie picture taken by a monkey automatically falls in the public domain.[5]
Works entering in public domain in 2016 by media
[edit]Books
[edit]- A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
- Sidney, Philip and His Wife, The Awakening of Helena Richie, The Iron Woman, The Rising Tide by Margaret Deland.
- Paulicéia Desvairada, Macunaíma by Mário de Andrade
- Aşk-ı Memnu, Kırık Hayatlar by Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil
- Bambi, a Life in the Woods, Bambi's Children, Josephine Mutzenbacher, The Hound of Florence, Fünf Minuten Amerika, Perri by Felix Salten.
- Red Plague Poem by Józef Szczepański
- Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- A Child of the Jago by Arthur Morrison
- Collection of Poems. 1889–1903 and Collection of Poems. Book 2. 1903-1909 by Zinaida Gippius
- Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
- Sister Carrie, Jennie Gerhardt, The Financier, The Titan, The "Genius", An American Tragedy, Chains: Lesser Novels and Stories, The Bulwark, The Stoic by Theodore Dreiser.
- The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison
Images
[edit]Music
[edit]- Six string quartets and Cantata Profana by Béla Bartók.
- Variations for piano, op. 27, String Quartet, Op. 28, Concerto for Nine Instruments, Op. 24 by Anton Webern.
- Prelude in E minor, BWV 855a by Alexander Siloti
- Music of Le Pavillon d'Armide Ballet by Nikolai Tcherepnin
- You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It) by James V. Monaco and Joseph McCarthy.
See also
[edit]- List of countries' copyright lengths
- Public Domain Day
- Creative Commons
- Public Domain
- Over 300 public domain authors available in Wikisource (any language), with descriptions from Wikidata
- 1945 in literature, 1955 in literature, 1965 in literature and 1975 in literature
References
[edit]- ^ "EU Extends Copyright Term To 70 Years | Billboard". Billboard.biz. 2011-09-12. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ^ Directive 2006/116/EC
- ^ Crick, Martin (1994). The History of the Social-Democratic Federation. Edinburgh University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-85331-091-1.
- ^ "Copyright and the Public Domain". Public Domain Information Project. Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ^ Kravets, David. "Judge says monkey cannot own copyright to famous selfies". arstechnica.com. Retrieved 27 September 2025.