Public Domain Day Date in the current year: January 1, 2024

Public Domain Day January 1 is the day when the copyrights expire and intellectual works enter into the public domain in most countries. This is the reason why January 1 has become Public Domain Day.

Each country has its individual copyright law but the legal transition of the works usually happens on January 1. Initially the observance of the holiday was informal and the earliest mention of the day refers to 2004 by Wallace McLean who was supported by Lawrence Lessig, the founder of Creative Commons, a noncommercial organization.

Since 2010 new works that enter into public domain appear on the website lists. Different activities are held all over the world in different counties under the banner Public Domain Day.

The date of Public Domain Day observance is still not clear. January 1 is just the date when works enter into public domain, but it's not the day for the holiday. Anyway different countries (e. g. Poland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Macedonia, Israel, France) promote the observance exactly on January 1.

Remind me with Google Calendar

Category

Other Observances

Tags

public domain day, public domain, copyright, creative commons