Open to the Public

I am looking back at an old draft from a year ago. But it seems now is as relevant a time as any to revamp it. 

One of the many causes for celebration in each New Year is the roster for literature and music entering the Public Domain. It is a time when great pieces are released to the general public for free, regardless of royalties and estates which have bound them prior. These last two years have been banner landmarks in the US. The extended period is different from nation to nation. In the US it had been legal to enter the Public Domain after 75 years. But in 1998 legislation of the Copyright Extension Act changed that to 95 years. What that has meant, is that for the last period of 20 years, no great works have been able to enter circulation without royalty. That all changed last year. And if you continue backwards - that starts to place incredible works from the 1920s into the public hands.

2020 opened up the doors for so much material. With the advent of the film industry, we start seeing the original classics by Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy. In music, the greats by the Gershwins and Irving Berlin start appearing: Fascinating Rhythm, Lady Be Good, What'll I Do. We have George's classic Rhapsody in Blue and operas like Turandot by Puccini. From literature great works by Agatha Christie, AA Milne and HG Wells. Noel Coward's Hay Fever and O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms.

2021 continues these great works. The Great Gatsby enters by Fitzgerald and also Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Incredible songs like Sweet Georgia Brown, Manhattan by Rodgers & Hart and more Gershwin & Berlin along with Duke Ellington. Since this was also the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance - we start seeing the music of Ma Rainey, Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton. An abundance for sure.

This is a reminder to myself to celebrate these landmark works each year with the turn of the calendar. The world is so complicated now with streaming services and royalties. Even artists sometimes do not have the rights to their own creations; see Taylor Swift. This is a great time to revisit classics that were stepping stones that got us to today. Do an easy Google search to see the impact 95 years has made.