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3. 01.01.2025

Public Domain Day 2025

January 1st is Public Domain Day – a celebration of creative freedom, during which thousands of works of art, books, films, and songs enter the public domain each year!

In accordance to the Polish copyright law, Public Domain Day marks the expiration of copyright protection for works whose creators passed away 70 years ago. This transition grants us the freedom to creatively reuse, distribute, and modify these invaluable contributions to science and culture.

Later in January, we will be hosting a webinar on using public domain materials in creative and artistic projects – stay tuned for more details on our social media!

In the meantime, we prepared a list of notable cultural and scientific figures whose works have entered the public domain this year. While it’s, of course, not exhaustive – we hope this compilation encourages you to discover inspiring materials on your own.

We wish you heaps of unbound inspiration, openness, and creative energy in the New Year!

Art and Culture

• Wanda Bibrowicz (1878–1954) – Polish textile artist and educator.
• Bolesław Biegas (Biegalski) (1877–1954) – Polish sculptor and symbolist painter.
• Wacław Borowski (1885–1954) – Polish painter, illustrator, and graphic artist representing neoclassicism.
• Robert Capa (1913–1954) – Hungarian photojournalist, celebrated as one of the greatest war photographers of the 20th century.
• André Derain (1880–1954) – French painter and sculptor, pioneer of Fauvism.
• Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) – One of Mexico’s most well-known painters and cultural icons.
• Kaare Klint (1888–1954) – Architect and designer, father of the Danish modern furniture design school.
• Henri Matisse (1869–1954) – French painter, graphic artist, and sculptor, a leading figure in modern art.
• Leon Schiller (1887–1954) – Polish theater director and creator.
• Tadeusz Styka (1889–1954) – Polish portrait painter.
• Ellen Thesleff (1869–1954) – Finnish painter, pioneer of Finnish modernist art.
• William Van Alen (1883–1954) – American architect, designer of the Chrysler Building.

Explore public domain cultural heritage in digital repositories of museums from Poland (such as the National Museum in Krakow, National Museum in Warsaw, Museum of Warsaw, Open Zachęta, or on platforms like wMuzeach.pl) as well as from the rest of the world (e.g. Rijksmuseum, Metropolitan Museum, Getty Museum, and platforms like Google Arts and Culture).

Music

• Franco Alfano (1875–1954) – Italian composer and pianist, completed Puccini’s opera “Turandot”.
• Hakon Børresen (1876–1954) – Danish composer.
• Lillian “Lil” Green (1901?–1954) – American blues singer.
• Jan Adam Maklakiewicz (1899–1954) – Polish composer, conductor, educator and publicist.
• Oran “Hot Lips” Page (1909–1954) – American jazz trumpeter.
• Ludomir Michał Rogowski (1881–1954) – Polish composer and conductor.

Discover open-access music resources on sites like the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute’s polish.musicsources.pl, the Petrucci Music Library, or The Internet Archive.

Literature

• Colette (Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) (1873–1954) – French writer.
• Bertie Forbes (1880–1954) – American journalist, founder of “Forbes” magazine.
• Thea von Harbou (1888–1954) – German writer, actress, and screenwriter of “Metropolis” (1927).
• Hans Janowitz (1890–1954) – Co-author of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920).
• Alain LeRoy Locke (1885–1954) – American writer, philosopher, and educator.
• Zofia Nałkowska (1884–1954) – Polish writer, journalist, and dramatist.
• Marika Stiernstedt (1875–1954) – Swedish writer and social activist.
• Władysław Umiński (1865–1954) – Polish writer, known as the “Polish Jules Verne.”

Science

• Edwin H. Armstrong (1890–1954) – American inventor, pioneer of FM radio technology.
• Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) – Italian-American physicist and Nobel laureate.
• Auguste Lumière (1862–1954) – Elder of the Lumière brothers, pioneers of cinematography.
• Gideon Sundback (1880–1954) – Inventor of the modern zipper.
• Alan Turing (1912–1954) – British mathematician and cryptographer, key figure in breaking the Enigma code.

Texts and scans of various genres of literature (including scientific works) available in the public domain can be found on platforms such as Kronik@, Polish Federation of Digital Libraries, Polona, Europeana, The Internet Archive, and even in audio format on LibriVox.org. Additionally, many educational materials published on Khan Academy are available under a Creative Commons license.

How to use materials in the Public Domain?

The public domain is a collection of materials that can be used without restrictions. Photos, artworks, music, and texts in the public domain can be freely modified, translated, copied, and distributed without paying licensing fees – even when used for commercial purposes. This is because the copyright on these works has expired, or the materials were never subject to copyright law. You are also free to earn money from any derivative works (meaning, your own creations) that use the public domain resources.

When using a work from the public domain or one licensed under Creative Commons, it’s important to:

1. Credit the original author and title.
2. Respect the integrity of the work (respecting intended values behind the work).
3. Verify the work’s public domain status. Materials published online are sometimes labeled incorrectly. Public domain regulations vary by country, but under Polish law, works enter the public domain 70 full years after the creator’s death. For example, if a creator passed away in November 1900, their work entered the public domain on January 1, 1971.

You can often identify materials available for free use by specific labels, such as:

*Note: The Creative Commons label may be accompanied by additional icons that specify usage conditions, such as attribution requirements, prohibitions of commercial use, or restrictions on creating derivative works (e.g., “remixes” like artistic collages). For more details on individual Creative Commons licenses and related rights, visit CreativeCommons.org.