Copyright protection is temporarily. The country where a work is published determines when copyright expires. For example, in the Netherlands copyright vested in a work expires on Januari 1, 70 years after the death of that latest living author. That is why the first day of the year also is referred to as Public Domain Day, a day to celebrate the lives of authors who died many years ago and that their works have become available in the public domain.
The work of these people can be revived. They can be used on Wikipedia, remixed to new works and can be used for new publications, studies and research. All without having to ask permission from the rights holders.
In January 2020 there will be events all over the world to celebrate the fact that new works have entered the public domain.
Legend:
GREEN: Confirmed event, see the Calendar for details
ORANGE: Not confirmed event
News
Read the latest news on events around the globe.
Calendar
See all information of events in detail.
Add your event
There is currently an international survey for people and/or organisations that will be or are interested in organising Public Domain Day in their country. Are you interested in contributing in your country? Then please fill in the survey.
Tools & documentation
Looking for tools and documentation for your own event? Look no further. We’d love to receive your input too.
About
Pdday.org is an initiative of Sebastiaan ter Burg, board member of Open Nederland, co-producer of Public Domain Day in the Netherlands and a content creator that shares his work actively with Creative Commons licenses.