Last year, for the first time in twenty years, published creative works entered into the public domain in the United States. Works from 1923 saw their copyright terms end, meaning they were no longer subject to copyright protection. With the new year, works published in 1924 joined them.
The public domain is an important part of the lifecycle of copyright. The U.S. Constitution set the stage for Congress to pass copyright law protection for creative works, granting creators e